Dosimetric evaluation of a novel high dose rate (HDR) intraluminal / interstitial brachytherapy applicator for gastrointestinal and bladder cancers

High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is one of the accepted treatment modalities in gastro-intestinal tract and bladder carcinomas. Considering the shortcoming of contact brachytherapy routinely used in gastrointestinal tract in treatment of big tumors or invasive method of bladder treatment, an intraluminal applicator with the capability of insertion into the tumor depth seems to be useful. This study presents some dosimetric evaluations to introduce this applicator to the clinical use. The radiation attenuation characteristics of the applicator were evaluated by means of two dosimetric methods including well-type chamber and radiochromic film. The proposed 110 cm long applicator has a flexible structure made of stainless steel for easy passage through lumens and a needle tip to drill into big tumors. The 2mm diameter of the applicator is thick enough for source transition, while easy passage through any narrow lumen such as endoscope or cystoscope working channel is ensured. Well-chamber results showed an acceptably low attenuation of this steel springy applicator. Performing absolute dosimetry resulted in a correlation coefficient of R = 0.9916 (p-value ≈ 10-7) between standard interstitial applicator and the one proposed in this article. This study not only introduces a novel applicator with acceptable attenuation but also proves the response independency of the GAFCHROMIC EBT films to energy. By applying the dose response of the applicator in the treatment planning software, it can be used as a new intraluminal / interstitial applicator.