ABSTRACT
There are four kinds of brachytherapy: high-dose-rate (HDR), medium-doserate (MDR), low-dose-rate (LDR), and pulse-dose-rate (PDR) methods. HDR brachytherapy protocol has been developed for nanoscale treatment (Korean Food and Drug Administration [KFDA] 2004). The object of this project is the establishment of safety and accuracy standards for the HDR treatment system, which includes the HDR afterloader, source, and radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP). There are many functional and structural features, such as the structure of a source, source dwelling method, safety interlock feature, and dose calculation accuracy, which are unique for each model. It is necessary for the different features of the HDR treatment system to be evaluated by a standardized criterion in order to be approved for patient treatment (AAPM [American Association of Physicists in Medicine] 1994, 1995, 1997; IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] 2000;, Khan 2003; Van Dyk 1999). Table 8.1 shows the acceptable physical application sites of brachytherapy with respect to patient sex. Table 8.2 lists the sampled radioisotopes in clinical usage. It is important to accurately calculate dosage for patient therapy in clinical applications. The automatic calculator is developed using commercial software. It is quite exact in RTP. The clinical result is matched with the calculations by comparison.
