Remote afterloading for intracavitary and interstitial brachytherapy with californium-252

摘要

The authors present their design concept of remote afterloading for ~(252)Cf brachytherapy with respect to characteristic peculiarities of ~(252)Cf and the current worldwide development of remote afterloading devices. The afterloading device has been designed as a stationary radiator comprising three mutually interconnected units: (1) a control and drive unit, consisting of a control computer and a motor-driven Bowden system carrying the ~(252)Cf source; (2) a source housed in a watertight, concrete vessel, which is stored in a strong room situated well beneath the patient's bed and (3) an afterloading application module installed in the irradiation room. As ~(252)Cf is a nuclide with low specific activity, it was necessary to produce two independent devices for high dose rate intracavitary treatment and for low dose rate intestinal treatment. The sources may be moved arbitrarily during the treatment with a position accuracy of 0.5-1.0 mm within a distance of 520 cm from the source storage position in the strong room to the application position. The technical concept of the present automatic afterloading device for neutron brachytherapy represents one possible option of a range of conceivable design variants, which, while minimizing the technical and economic requirements, provides operating personnel with optimum protection and work safety, thus extending the applicability of high-LET radiation-based treatment methods in clinical practice.