Dosimetric parameters of the new design 103Pd brachytherapy source based on Monte Carlo study

In this study version 5 of the MCNP photon transport simulation was used to calculate the dosimetric parameters for new palladium brachytherapy source design following AAPM Task Group No. 43U1 report. The internal source components include four resin beads of 0.6 mm diameters with Pd-103 uniformly absorbed inside and one cylindrical copper marker with 1.5 mm length. The resin beads and marker are then encapsulated within 0.8 mm in diameter and 4.5 mm long cylindrical capsule of titanium. The dose rate constant, Lambda, line and pointsource radial dose function, g(L)(r) and g(p)(r), and the anisotropy function, F(r,theta) of the IR01-Pd-103 seed have been calculated at distances from 0.25 to 5 cm. All the results are in good agreement with previously published thermoluminescence-dosimeter measured values [3] for the source. The dosimetric parameters calculated in this work showed that in dosimetry point of view, the IR01-Pd-103 seed is suitable for use in brachytherapy of prostate cancer. (C) 2010 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.