Definition/Description
Brachytherapy is the use of sealed radioactive sources to treat cancers and other benign diseases by placing the sources inside the target volume or within close proximity to the target volume. Low dose rate (LDR) temporary implant is the type of brachytherapy in which radioactive source placement is temporary and the dose rate delivered to a prescription point ranges from 4 to 200 cGy per hour. In the LDR temporary brachytherapy implants, radioactive source placement is normally performed through manually or automatically controlled after-loading applicators. The radioactive sources, along with the after-loading applicators, are removed from the treatment site after achieving desired dose coverage.
Background and Basic Characteristics
Radiotherapy is an effective treatment modality in the management of various malignant and benign diseases. The success of radiation treatment is highly dependent on the ability to deliver a radiation dose high enough to sterilize...
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Yue, N.J. (2013). Brachytherapy: Low Dose Rate (LDR) Temporary Implants. In: Brady, L.W., Yaeger, T.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Radiation Oncology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85516-3_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85516-3_35
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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