ABSTRACT
Afterloading for brachytherapy was introduced in order to reduce the radiation dose to
some radiotherapy staff groups, such as the radiotherapist performing the brachytherapy and
the theatre staff attending the insertion. The first methods used manual afterloading, in which
the inactive applicators or needles were positioned and checked before the active sources were
introduced. With the advent of remote afterloading techniques, the radiation dose to other
staff, such as nurses, source curators and technical staff preparing radioactive source trains, was
reduced. The different techniques and their clinical applications will be discussed in the
following sections.
