Mj. Rivard et al., Clinical brachytherapy with neutron emitting Cf-252 sources and adherence to AAPM TG-43 dosimetry protocol, MED PHYS, 26(1), 1999, pp. 87-96
Citations number
34
Categorie Soggetti
Radiology ,Nuclear Medicine & Imaging","Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
Using Monte Carlo methods, neutron dosimetry for Cf-252 Applicator Tube (AT
) type medical sources available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
has for the first time been determined in terms of TG-43 formalism. This ap
proach, as compared to previous "along-away" formalisms, demonstrates the r
elative angular independence of dose rate data, when the geometry factor ha
s been removed. As the ORNL-made Cf-252 AT type sources are considerably ph
ysically larger than most clinical sources used today, the radial dose func
tion increases for radii less than 3.0 mm due to breakdown of the line sour
ce model. A comparison of the Cf-252 neutron radial dose function with thos
e for other medical sources revealed similarities with that from Cs-137. Di
fferences with respect to previous Cf-252 AT source neutron dosimetry data
generally increased at increasing distances. This was attributed to differe
nces in the various Cf-252 AT source models and phantom compositions. The c
urrent status of Cf-252 medical source fabrication and calibration procedur
es at ORNL is presented. (C) 1999 American Association of Physicists in Med
icine. [S0094-2405(99)00501-5].