Source strength determination in iridium-192 and cobalt-60 brachytherapy: A European survey on the level of agreement between clinical measurements and manufacturer certificates.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Brachytherapy treatment outcomes depend on the accuracy of the delivered dose distribution, which is proportional to the reference air-kerma rate (RAKR). Current societal recommendations require the medical physicist to compare the measured RAKR values to the manufacturer source calibration certificate. The purpose of this work was to report agreement observed in current clinical practice in the European Union.

Materials and methods

A European survey was performed for high- and pulsed-dose-rate (HDR and PDR) high-energy sources (¹⁹²Ir and ⁶⁰Co), to quantify observed RAKR differences. Medical physicists at eighteen hospitals from eight European countries were contacted, providing 1,032 data points from 2001 to 2020.

SUBMITTER: Vijande J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8348214 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature