Intraoperative solid-state based urethral dosimetry in low dose rate prostate brachytherapy

D. L. Cutajar, University of Wollongong
G. J. Takacs, University of Wollongong
M. L. Lerch, University of Wollongong
T. Braddock, University of Wollongong
J. A. Bucci, St George Cancer Care Centre, Australia
J. Brady, University of Wollongong
L. J. Duggan, St George Cancer Care Centre, Australia
K. E. Enari, St George Cancer Care Centre, Australia
M. Zaider, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Care Centre, New York, USA
M. Zelefsky, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Care Centre, New York, USA
A. Rosenfeld, University of Wollongong

Article comments

This article was originally published as: Cutajar, DL, Takacs, GJ, Lerch, MLF, et al, Intraoperative solid-state based urethral dosimetry in low dose rate prostate brachytherapy, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, June 2006, 53(3)3, 1408-1412. Copyright IEEE 2006.

Abstract

This paper presents in phantom testing of a recently developed intraoperative minidosimetry system, designed to measure the dose along the urethra during low dose rate prostate brachytherapy. This system is based on a silicon minidetector and uses spectroscopy to calculate the localized dose from the treatment radiation. The minidosimetry system was demonstrated to be operational at body temperature, with a near isotropic response to radiation at all angles. Phantom measurements have shown the minidosimetry system to measure the dose from multiple seeds to within 5% of planning system calculated doses. This system is an ideal complement to ultrasound guided seed placement in providing online direct dosimetry during seed implantation, as well as providing dose planning system verification through post implant dosimetry.