High dose rate brachytherapy (HDR) using 192Ir sources is well accepted as an important treatment option and thus requires an accurate dosimetry standard. However, a dosimetry standard for the direct measurement of the absolute dose to water for this particular source type is currently not available. An improved standard for the absorbed dose to water based on Fricke dosimetry of HDR 192Ir brac...

Purpose. Following limb conserving surgery for bone or soft tissue sarcoma, patients may require post-operative radiotherapy to minimise the risk of local recurrence. In such circumstances the metal prosthesis reduces the dose in its shadow by approximately 10% when using opposed fields. We describe a technique to boost the underdosed area to overcome this problem.Patients or subjects. Seven se...

The new developments in computer technology are changing the way training professionals look at computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Nursing educators and practitioners can plan on CAI capabilities that will be both possible and economical as well as within the reach of most organizations. Health care delivery may not be in a position to forego multimedia training as part of its repertoire. In ...

Currently, patients having cervical cancer with extension into the lower vagina are being treated with a combination of the Fletcher-Suit applicator, which treats the cervix, and a vaginal cylinder, which treats the lower vagina. With this method, patients receive two separate implants-a procedure that creates greater uncertainty in the dose distribution and unnecessary patient inconvenience. T...

The increasing risk of a mass casualty scenario following a large scale radiological accident or attack necessitates the development of appropriate dosimetric tools for emergency response. Luminescence dosimetry has been reliably applied for dose reconstruction in contaminated settlements for several decades and recent research into new materials carried close to the human body opens the possib...

The Scottish Computer Assisted Assessment Network (SCAAN) [1] was set up in early 1999 to promote the use of online assessment in higher education institutions throughout Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council under its Webtools initiative, SCAAN is a collaboration between three universities: Glasgow, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde. Each of these establishments is implem...

Since 1969 the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization (along with the Pan American Health Organization, working with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean) have operated postal dosimetry audits based on thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) for radiotherapy centers. The purpose of these audits is to provide an independent dosimetry check of radiation beams used ...

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling provides important capabilities for improving the reliability of the extrapolations across dose, species, and exposure route that are generally required in chemical risk assessment regardless of the toxic end point being considered. Recently, there has been an increasing focus on harmonization of the cancer and noncancer risk assessment approaches ...

Dosimetric consequences of positional shifts were studied using frameless Brainlab ExacTrac X-ray system for hypofractionated (3 or 5 fractions) intracranial stereo-tactic radiotherapy (SRT). SRT treatments of 17 patients with metastatic intracranial tumors using the stereotactic system were retrospectively investigated. The treatments were simulated in a treatment planning system by modifying ...

Hospital administrations in the developing–world face great challenges to meet the demand for more physicians in hospitals. A computer-based physician requirement planning model is a user-friendly approach in response to such demands. This article presents a new methodology based on a Graphic User Interface (GUI) using Java. Information on work days/ hours, activity-wise standard times and annu...