This retrospective study aimed to demonstrate and compare the safety and effectiveness of computed tomography-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and 125I-seed brachytherapy for painful bone metastases after failure of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). From June 2013 to October 2015, 79 patients with moderate-to-severe pain caused by metastatic bone lesions who underwent either RFA (n = 41) o...

PURPOSE Recent studies show promise that administering gold nanoparticles (GNP) to tumor cells during brachytherapy could significantly enhance radiation damage to the tumor. A new strategy proposed for sustained administration of the GNP in prostate tumors is to load them into routinely used brachytherapy spacers for customizable in situ release after implantation. This in silico study investi...

The measurement of dose distributions in clinical brachytherapy, for the purpose of quality control, commissioning or dosimetric audit, is challenging and requires development. Radiochromic film dosimetry with a commercial flatbed scanner may be suitable, but careful methodologies are required to control various sources of uncertainty. Triple-channel dosimetry has recently been utilized in exte...

PURPOSE Low energy sources are routinely used in prostate brachytherapy. (125)I is one of the most commonly used sources. Low energy (131)Cs source was introduced recently as a brachytherapy source. The aim of this study is to compare dose distributions of (125)I, (103)Pd, and (131)Cs sources in interstitial brachytherapy of prostate. MATERIAL AND METHODS ProstaSeed (125)I brachytherapy sourc...

In February 2013 " Journal of Contemporary Brachytherapy " was accepted for indexation in PubMed/Pub-MedCentral what, I think, is a big step forward. In 2013 we plan to start our efforts in order to obtain indexation in, so called, Philadelphia list. And to receive IF, of course what is possible for the first time in 2013. I believe that with the great support of members of the Editorial Board ...

In the recommendations of Task Group #43 from American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM TG43), methods of brachytherapy source dosimetry are recommended, under full scattering conditions. However, in actual brachytherapy procedures, sources may not be surrounded by full scattering tissue in all directions. Clinical examples include high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy of the breast or ...

This study was designed to estimate radiation-induced secondary cancer risks from high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy and external radiotherapy for patients with cervical cancer based on measurements of doses absorbed by various organs. Organ doses from HDR brachytherapy and external radiotherapy were measured using glass rod dosimeters. Doses to out-of-field organs were measured at various loca...

In 2010, gynecologic malignancies were the 4th leading cause of death in U.S. women and for patients with extensive primary or recurrent disease, treatment with interstitial brachytherapy may be an option. However, brachytherapy requires precise insertion of hollow catheters with introducers into the tumor in order to eradicate the cancer. In this study, a software solution to assist interstiti...

This paper presents a remote radioactive seed-loading device for permanent brachytherapy of oral cancer with Au-198 grains to reduce the exposure dose to the doctors. Permanent brachytherapy is a treatment which involve implanting of radioactive Au-198 grains, and requires neither long-term needle insertion nor diet-restriction. This is its advantage over temporary brachytherapy. However, the d...

In contemporary brachytherapy procedures, needle placement at the desired target is challenging due to a variety of reasons. A robot-assisted brachytherapy system can improve the needle placement and seed delivery resulting in enhanced patient care. In this paper we present a 16 DOF (degrees-of-freedom) robotic system (9DOF positioning module and 7 DOF surgery module) developed and fabricated f...