TY  - JOUR
AU  - Pujades, M. C.
AU  - Granero, D.
AU  - Vijande, J.
AU  - Ballester, F.
AU  - Perez-Calatayud, J.
AU  - Papagiannis, P.
AU  - Siebert, F. A.
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014//
TI  - Air-kerma evaluation at the maze entrance of HDR brachytherapy facilities
T2  - J. Radiol. Prot.
JO  - Journal of Radiological Protection
SP  - 741
EP  - 753
VL  - 34
IS  - 4
PB  - Iop Publishing Ltd
KW  - bunker
KW  - shielding
KW  - NCRP 151
KW  - brachytherapy
KW  - Monte Carlo
AB  - In the absence of procedures for evaluating the design of brachytherapy (BT) facilities for radiation protection purposes, the methodology used for external beam radiotherapy facilities is often adapted. The purpose of this study is to adapt the NCRP 151 methodology for estimating the air-kerma rate at the door in BT facilities. Such methodology was checked against Monte Carlo (MC) techniques using the code Geant4. Five different facility designs were studied for Ir-192 and Co-60 HDR applications to account for several different bunker layouts. For the estimation of the lead thickness needed at the door, the use of transmission data for the real spectra at the door instead of the ones emitted by Ir-192 and Co-60 will reduce the lead thickness by a factor of five for Ir-192 and ten for Co-60. This will significantly lighten the door and hence simplify construction and operating requirements for all bunkers. The adaptation proposed in this study to estimate the air-kerma rate at the door depends on the complexity of the maze: it provides good results for bunkers with a maze (i.e. similar to those used for linacs for which the NCRP 151 methodology was developed) but fails for less conventional designs. For those facilities, a specific Monte Carlo study is in order for reasons of safety and cost-effectiveness.
SN  - 0952-4746
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0952-4746/34/4/741
DO  - 10.1088/0952-4746/34/4/741
LA  - English
N1  - WOS:000345895800005
ID  - Pujades_etal2014
ER  -