%0 Journal Article
%T Assaying multiple I-125 seeds with the well-ionization chamber SourceCheck(4 Pi) 33005 and a new insert
%A Candela-Juan, C.
%A Ballester, F.
%A Perez-Calatayud, J.
%A Vijande, J.
%J Journal of Contemporary Brachytherapy
%D 2015
%V 7
%N 6
%I Termedia Publishing House Ltd
%@ 1689-832x
%G English
%F Candela-Juan_etal2015
%O WOS:000368381300010
%O exported from refbase (https://references.ific.uv.es/refbase/show.php?record=2533), last updated on Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:32:36 +0000
%X Purpose: To provide a practical solution that can be adopted in clinical routine to fulfill the AAPM-ESTRO recommendations regarding quality assurance of seeds used in prostate permanent brachytherapy. The aim is to design a new insert for the well-ionization chamber SourceCheck(4 Pi) 33005 (PTW, Germany) that allows evaluating the mean air-kerma strength of up to ten I-125 seeds with one single measurement instead of measuring each seed individually. Material and methods: The material required is: a) the SourceCheck(4 Pi) 33005 well-ionization chamber provided with a PTW insert to measure the air-kerma strength S-K of one single seed at a time; b) a newly designed insert that accommodates ten seeds in one column, which allows measuring the mean S-K of the ten seeds in one single measurement; and c) a container with ten seeds from the same batch and class of the seeds used for the patient implant, and a set of nine non-radioactive seeds.The new insert is characterized by determining its calibration coefficient, used to convert the reading of the well-chamber when ten seeds are measured to their mean S-K. The proposed method is validated by comparing the mean S-K of the ten seeds obtained from the new insert with the individual measurement of S-K of each seed, evaluated with the PTW insert. Results: The ratio between the calibration coefficient of the new insert and the calibration coefficient of the PTW insert for the SourceCheck(4 Pi) 33005 is 1.135 +/- 0.007 (k = 1). The mean S-K of a set of ten seeds evaluated with this new system is in agreement with the mean value obtained from measuring independently the S-K of each seed. Conclusions: The new insert and procedure allow evaluating the mean S-K of ten seeds prior to the implant in a single measurement. The method is faster and more efficient from radiation protection point of view than measuring the individual S-K of each seed.
%K brachytherapy
%K insert
%K quality assurance
%K prostate
%K seeds
%K well chamber
%U http://www.termedia.pl/Assaying-multiple-125-I-seeds-with-the-well-ionization-chamber-SourceCheck-4-33005-and-a-new-insert,54,26531,1,1.html
%P 492-496