BACKGROUND Although several early trials indicate treatment of restenosis with radiation therapy is safe and effective, the long-term impact of this new technology has been questioned. The objective of this report is to document angiographic and clinical outcome 3 years after treatment of restenotic stented coronary arteries with catheter-based (192)Ir. METHODS AND RESULTS A double-blind, ran...

PURPOSE To evaluate whether Co-60 is equivalent to Ir-192 for HDR cervical brachytherapy, through 3D-DVH dose comparisons in standard and optimised plans. Previous studies have only considered 2D dosimetry, point dose comparisons or identical loading. Typical treatment times and economics are considered. MATERIAL AND METHODS Plans were produced for eight cervix patients using Co-60 and Ir-192...

PURPOSE HDR (60)Co system has recently been developed and utilized for brachytherapy in many countries outside of the U.S. as an alternative to (192)Ir. In addition, the AccuBoost(®) technique has been demonstrated to be a successful non-invasive image-guided breast brachytherapy treatment option. The goal of this project is to evaluate the possibility of utilizing the BEBIG HDR (60)Co system f...

For the purpose of dose measurement using a high-dose rate (192)Ir source, four methods of thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) calibration were investigated. Three of the four calibration methods used the (192)Ir source. Dwell times were calculated to deliver 1 Gy to the TLDs irradiated either in air or water. Dwell time calculations were confirmed by direct measurement using an ionization chambe...

BACKGROUND Intracavitary irradiation plays a pivotal role in definitive radiotherapy for cervical cancer, and the Ir-192 high dose-rate remote afterloading system (HDR-RALS) is often used for this purpose. Under this condition, tumor tissues receive remarkably different absorption doses, with a steep gradient, depending on distance from the radiation source. To obtain temporo-spatial informatio...

This paper reports the performance characteristics of a-Si detectors with Ir-192 gamma source. Imaging performance of the detector system is evaluated using contrast sensitivity over a range of material thickness of steel, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range and linearity. The radiographic sensitivity was observed over a range of thickness of steel using standard image quality indicators. Quan...

OBJECTIVE To perform a comparative dosimetric analysis, based on computer simulations, of temporary balloon implants with (99m)Tc and balloon brachytherapy with high-dose-rate (HDR) (192)Ir, as boosts to radiotherapy. We hypothesized that the two techniques would produce equivalent doses under pre-established conditions of activity and exposure time. MATERIALS AND METHODS Simulations of impla...

PURPOSE Recently a number of hypothetical sources have been proposed and evaluated for use in brachytherapy. In the present study, a hypothetical (101)Rh source with mean photon energy of 121.5 keV and half-life of 3.3 years, has been evaluated as an alternative to the existing high-dose-rate (HDR) sources. Dosimetric characteristics of this source model have been determined following the recom...