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Purpose BrachyView is a novel in-body imaging system which aims to provide LDR brachytherapy seeds position reconstruction within the prostate in real-time. The first prototype is presented in this study: the probe consists of a gamma camera featuring three single cone pinhole collimators embedded in a tungsten tube, above three, high resolution pixelated detectors (Timepix). Methods The prostate was imaged with a TRUS system using a sagittal crystal with a 2.5 mm slice thickness. Eleven needles containing a total of thirty 0.508 U 125 I seeds were implanted under ultrasound guidance. A CT scan was used to localise the seed positions, as well as provide a reference when performing the image co-registration between the BrachyView coordinate system and the TRUS coordinate system. An in-house visualisation software interface was developed to provide a quantitative 3D reconstructed prostate based on the TRUS images and co-registered with the LDR seeds in situ. A rigid body image registration was performed between the BrachyView and TRUS systems, with the BrachyView and CT-derived source locations compared. Results The reconstructed seed positions determined by the BrachyView probe showed a maximum discrepancy of 1.78 mm, with 75% of the seeds reconstructed within 1 mm of their nominal location. An accurate co-registration between the BrachyView and TRUS coordinate system was established. Conclusions The BrachyView system has shown its ability to reconstruct all implanted LDR seeds within a tissue equivalent prostate gel phantom, providing both anatomical and seed position information in a single interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BrachyView is a novel in-body imaging system for real-time intraoperative prostate brachytherapy treatment planning, which monitors the position of low dose rate brachytherapy seeds using an array of high-resolution pixelated silicon detectors (Timepix). The detector array is also capable of performing in-body imaging of the prostate when used in conjunction with an external X-ray source. This study presents a quantitative analysis of the Timepix detector for use as a soft-tissue imaging plane by evaluating varying thicknesses of tissue-equivalent plastic incorporated into a medical prostate phantom. The feasibility of using BrachyView as a diagnostic tool is established by demonstrating the resolving power and high contrast obtainable with this configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]