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Breast tissue is heterogeneous and is mainly composed of glandular (G) and adipose (A) tissues. The proportion of G versus A varies considerably among the population. The absorbed dose distributions in accelerated partial breast irradiation therapy with low energy photon brachytherapy sources are very sensitive to tissue heterogeneities. Current clinical algorithms use the recommendations of the AAPM TG43 report which approximates the human tissues by unit density water. The aim of this study is to investigate various breast tissue modeling schemes for low energy brachytherapy. A special case of breast permanent seed implant is considered here. Six modeling schemes are considered. Uniform and non-uniform water breast (UWB and NUWB) consider the density but neglect the effect of the composition of tissues. The uniform and the non-uniform G/A breast (UGAB and NUGAB) as well the age-dependent breast (ADB) models consider the effect of the composition. The segmented breast tissue (SBT) method uses a density threshold to distinguish between G and A tissues. The PTV D90 metric is used for the analysis and is based on the dose to water (D90(w,m)). D90(m,m) is also reported for comparison to D90(w,m). The two-month post-implant D90(w,m) averaged over 38 patients is smaller in NUWB than in UWB by about 4.6% on average (ranging from 5% to 13%). Large average differences of G/A breast models with TG43 (17% and 26% in UGAB and NUGAB, respectively) show that the effect of the chemical composition dominates the effect of the density on dose distributions. D90(w,m) is 12% larger in SBT than in TG43 when averaged. These differences can be as low as 4% or as high as 20% when the individual patients are considered. The high sensitivity of dosimetry on the modeling scheme argues in favor of an agreement on a standard tissue modeling approach to be used in low energy breast brachytherapy. SBT appears to generate the most geometrically reliable breast tissue models in this report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of tissue heterogeneity and interseed attenuation is studied in post-implant evaluation of five clinical permanent breast 103Pd seed implants using the Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation method. Dose metrics for the target (PTV) as well as an organ at risk (skin) are used to visualize the differences between a TG43-like MC method and more accurate MC methods capable of considering the breast tissue heterogeneity as well as the interseed attenuation. PTV dose is reduced when using a breast tissue model instead of water in MC calculations while the dose to the skin is increased. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of varying the glandular/adipose proportion of the breast tissue on dose distributions. The dose to the PTV (skin) decreases (increases) with the increasing adipose proportion inside the breast. In a complete geometry and compared to a TG43-like situation, the average PTV D90 reduction varies from 3.9% in a glandular breast to 35.5% when the breast consists entirely of adipose. The skin D10 increases by 28.2% in an entirely adipose breast. The results of this work show the importance of an accurate and patient-dependent breast tissue model to be used in the dosimetry for this kind of low energy implant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Axxent developed by Xoft Inc. is a novel electronic brachytherapy system capable of generating x-rays up to 50 keV. These low energy photon-emitting sources merit attention not only because of their ability to vary the dosimetric properties of the radiation, but also because of the radiobiological effects of low energy x-rays. The objective of this study is to characterize the x-ray source and to model it using the Geant4 Monte Carlo code. Spectral and attenuation curve measurements are performed at various peak voltages and angles and the source is characterized in terms of spectrum and half-value layers (HVLs). Also, the effects of source variation and source aging are quantified. Bremsstrahlung splitting, phase-space scoring and particle-tagging features are implemented in the Geant4 code, which is bench-marked against BEAMnrc simulations. HVLs from spectral measurements, attenuation curve measurements and Geant4 simulations mostly agree within uncertainty. However, there are discrepancies between measurements and simulations for photons emitted on the source transverse plane (90°). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brachytherapy is employed to treat a wide variety of cancers. However, an accurate treatment verification method is currently not available. This study describes a pre-treatment verification system that uses an imaging panel (IP) to verify important aspects of the treatment plan. A detailed modelling of the IP was only possible with an extensive calibration performed using a robotic arm. Irradiations were performed with a high dose rate (HDR) 192Ir source within a water phantom. An empirical fit was applied to measure the distance between the source and the detector so 3D Cartesian coordinates of the dwell positions can be obtained using a single panel. The IP acquires 7.14 fps to verify the dwell times, dwell positions and air kerma strength (Sk). A gynecological applicator was used to create a treatment plan that was registered with a CT image of the water phantom used during the experiments for verification purposes. Errors (shifts, exchanged connections and wrong dwell times) were simulated to verify the proposed verification system. Cartesian source positions (panel measurement plane) have a standard deviation of about 0.02 cm. The measured distance between the source and the panel (z-coordinate) have a standard deviation up to 0.16 cm and maximum absolute error of  ≈0.6 cm if the signal is close to sensitive limit of the panel. The average response of the panel is very linear with Sk. Therefore, Sk measurements can be performed with relatively small errors. The measured dwell times show a maximum error of 0.2 s which is consistent with the acquisition rate of the panel. All simulated errors were clearly identified by the proposed system. The use of IPs is not common in brachytherapy, however, it provides considerable advantages. It was demonstrated that the IP can accurately measure Sk, dwell times and dwell positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic brachytherapy sources use low energy photons to treat the tumor bed during or after breast-conserving surgery. The relative biological effectiveness of two electronic brachytherapy sources was explored to determine if spectral differences due to source design influenced radiation quality and if radiation quality decreased with distance in the breast. The RBE was calculated through the number of DNA double strand breaks (RBEDSB) using the Monte Carlo damage simulator (MCDS) in combination with other Monte Carlo electron/photon spectrum calculations. 50kVp photons from the Intrabeam (Carl Zeiss Surgical) and Axxent (Xoft) through 40-mm spherical applicators were simulated to account for applicator and tissue attenuation in a variety of breast tissue compositions. 40kVp Axxent photons were also simulated. Secondary electrons (known to be responsible for most DNA damage) spectra at different distance were inputted into MCDS to calculate the RBEDSB. All RBEDSB used a cobalt-60 reference. RBEDSB data was combined with corresponding average photon spectrum energy for the Axxent and applied to model-based average photon energy distributions to produce an RBEDSB map of an accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) patient. Both Axxent and Intrabeam 50kVp spectra were shown to have a comparable RBEDSB of between 1.4 and 1.6 at all distances in spite of progressive beam hardening. The Axxent 40kVp also demonstrated a similar RBEDSB at distances. Most RBEDSB variability was dependent on the tissue type as was seen in rib (RBEDSB  ≈  1.4), gland (≈1.55), adipose (≈1.59), skin (≈1.52) and lung (≈1.50). RBEDSB variability between both sources was within 2%. A correlation was shown between RBEDSB and average photon energy and used to produce an RBEDSB map of a dose distribution in an APBI patient dataset. Radiation quality is very similar between electronic brachytherapy sources studied. No significant reductions in RBEDSB were observed with increasing distance from the source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dose calculation in high dose rate brachytherapy with 192Ir is usually based on the TG-43U1 protocol where all media are considered to be water. Several dose calculation algorithms have been developed that are capable of handling heterogeneities with two possibilities to report dose: dose-to-medium-in-medium (Dm,m) and dose-to-water-in-medium (Dw,m). The relation between Dm,m and Dw,m for 192Ir is the main goal of this study, in particular the dependence of Dw,m on the dose calculation approach using either large cavity theory (LCT) or small cavity theory (SCT). A head and neck case was selected due to the presence of media with a large range of atomic numbers relevant to tissues and mass densities such as air, soft tissues and bone interfaces. This case was simulated using a Monte Carlo (MC) code to score: Dm,m,Dw,m (LCT), mean photon energy and photon fluence. Dw,m (SCT) was derived from MC simulations using the ratio between the unrestricted collisional stopping power of the actual medium and water. Differences between Dm,m and Dw,m (SCT or LCT) can be negligible (<1%) for some tissues e.g. muscle and significant for other tissues with differences of up to 14% for bone. Using SCT or LCT approaches leads to differences between Dw,m (SCT) and Dw,m (LCT) up to 29% for bone and 36% for teeth. The mean photon energy distribution ranges from 222 keV up to 356 keV. However, results obtained using mean photon energies are not equivalent to the ones obtained using the full, local photon spectrum. This work concludes that it is essential that brachytherapy studies clearly report the dose quantity. It further shows that while differences between Dm,m and Dw,m (SCT) mainly depend on tissue type, differences between Dm,m and Dw,m (LCT) are, in addition, significantly dependent on the local photon energy fluence spectrum which varies with distance to implanted sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in high dose rate (HDR) electronic brachytherapy operating at 50 kV is increasing. For quality assurance it is important to identify dosimetry systems that can measure the absorbed doses in absolute terms which is difficult in this energy region. In this work a comparison is made between two dosimetry systems, EPR lithium formate dosimeters and radiochromic EBT2 film.Both types of dosimeters were irradiated simultaneously in a PMMA phantom using the Axxent EBS. Absorbed dose to water was determined at distances of 10 mm, 30 mm and 50 mm from the EBS. Results were traceable to different primary standards as regards to absorbed dose to water (EPR) and air kerma (EBT2). Monte Carlo simulations were used in absolute terms as a third estimate of absorbed dose to water.Agreement within the estimated expanded (k = 2) uncertainties (5% (EPR), 7% (EBT2)) was found between the results at 30 mm and 50 mm from the x-ray source. The same result was obtained in 4 repetitions of irradiation, indicating high precision in the measurements with both systems. At all distances, agreement between EPR and Monte Carlo simulations was shown as was also the case for the film measurements at 30mm and 50mm. At 10mm the geometry for the film measurements caused too large uncertainty in measured values depending on the exact position (within sub-mm distances) of the EBS and the 10 mm film results were exculded from comparison.This work has demonstrated good performance of the lithium formate EPR dosimetry system in accordance with earlier experiments at higher photon energies (192Ir HDR brachytherapy). It was also highlighted that there might be issues regarding the energy dependence and intrinsic efficiency of the EBT2 film that need to be considered for measurements using low energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounting for brachytherapy applicator attenuation is part of the recommendations from the recent report of AAPM Task Group 186. To do so, model based dose calculation algorithms require accurate modelling of the applicator geometry. This can be non-trivial in the case of irregularly shaped applicators such as the Fletcher Williamson gynaecological applicator or balloon applicators with possibly irregular shapes employed in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) performed using electronic brachytherapy sources (EBS). While many of these applicators can be modelled using constructive solid geometry (CSG), the latter may be difficult and time-consuming. Alternatively, these complex geometries can be modelled using tessellated geometries such as tetrahedral meshes (mesh geometries (MG)). Recent versions of Monte Carlo (MC) codes Geant4 and MCNP6 allow for the use of MG. The goal of this work was to model a series of applicators relevant to brachytherapy using MG. Applicators designed for 192Ir sources and 50 kV EBS were studied; a shielded vaginal applicator, a shielded Fletcher Williamson applicator and an APBI balloon applicator.All applicators were modelled in Geant4 and MCNP6 using MG and CSG for dose calculations. CSG derived dose distributions were considered as reference and used to validate MG models by comparing dose distribution ratios.In general agreement within 1% for the dose calculations was observed for all applicators between MG and CSG and between codes when considering volumes inside the 25% isodose surface. When compared to CSG, MG required longer computation times by a factor of at least 2 for MC simulations using the same code. MCNP6 calculation times were more than ten times shorter than Geant4 in some cases.In conclusion we presented methods allowing for high fidelity modelling with results equivalent to CSG. To the best of our knowledge MG offers the most accurate representation of an irregular APBI balloon applicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]