Brachytherapy Flashcards
Half Life of Iodine-125
59.4 Days ( Tip: I-12(5) = (5)9.4 days)
Half Life of Palladium-103
17 days (Tip: Pd-(10)-(3)= 1(7) days)
Half life of Cs-131
9.6 Days (Tip: Cs-131 (1+1=2, 3^2) = (9).6 days)
Half Life of Co-60
5.26 years
Half Life of Cs-137
30 Years (Tip: Cs-1(3)7= (3)0 years)
Half life of Ir-192
73.8 Days (Tip: Ir-1(9)-(2)= (7)3.8 days)
Half Life of Ra-226
1622 years (Tip: Ra-226, inversion, 1(622) Years)
What three nuclides can be ordered as seeds, used as permanent implants and known to be “triplets”
I-125, Pd-103, Cs-131
What are the implant technique(s) for brachy?
Interstitial, Intracavitary, Intraluminal, Intravascular, Source Mold/Plaque
What are the treatment duration(s) of an implant?
Permanent or Temporary
What are the dose rates using in brachytherapy?
LDR, MDR, HDR, PDR
What are the ranges of the following Dose Rates in BT, LDR/MDR/HDR?
LDR (0.4-2 Gy/hr), MDR (2-12 Gy/hr), HDR (>12Gy/hr)
What dose rates in BT can be used for outpatient treatment?
HDR and LDR
What dose rates in BT can be used for inpatient treatment?
LDR
What are the techniques of loading an implant?
Preloaded BT, Manual Afterloading, Remote Afterloading
Explain the technique of Preloaded BT.
Source is loaded into applicator before patient treatment, then applicators placed into patient
Explain the technique of Manual Afterloading.
Applicator is placed into patient, then Clinician will manually place sources into applicator
Explain the technique of Remote afterloading.
Applicator is placed into patient, then machine will move the sources into the applicator (Less exposure and More accurate)
What are the patterns of source loading in BT?
Uniform and Non-uniform
Explain Uniform source loading.
All sources have the same activity or duration in the patient
Explain Non-uniform source loading.
All sources have different activity or durations vary with the patient
What is half-life simple defined as?
The amount of time it takes for half of the original activity to decay
If a radionuclide has a high half life (T1/2), what can be inferred about the decay constant for that radionuclide?
Half-life correlates to a small decay constant, as theoretically not a lot of decay is taking place
What is the average mean life defined as?
- Time required for complete decay of PERMANENT sources
-Used to Calculate Total Dose received from PERMANENT sources
What is activity equations relevance?
Can be used to calculate activity on different dates, or calculating specific activity at different times (past or future)
What are the two main classes of source strength specifications?
-Material Present (Mass of Radium and activity)
- Emitted Radiations output (Exposure rate and air-kerma strength)
What was used to define Curies for activity?
Mass of Radium
1 g Radium= ?
1 Ci=3.7x10^10 dps/bq
1 mg Radium =?
1 mg of Ci
What is the SI unit for activity?
1 Becquerel
Why can’t curie be applied to BT sources?
Distribution depends on ATTENUATION and SCATTERING of photons by encapsulated material. (BT is measured about what is outside the encapsulated material, Curie is the measurement of the source within)