Electronic Brachytherapy: A Calibration Protocol in Terms of Absorbed Dose to Water"

Authors

  • Fábio Sabará Dias Nuclear Energy Research Institute image/svg+xml
    • Dr. Orlando Rodrigues Jr. Nuclear Energy Research Institute image/svg+xml
      • Dra Maria da Penha Albuquerque Potiens Nuclear Energy Research Institute image/svg+xml

        DOI:

        https://doi.org/10.15392/2319-0612.2026.2992

        Keywords:

        intraoperative radiotherapy, absorbed dose in water, dosimeter calibration, Ionizing Radiation Metrology

        Abstract

        New radiotherapy techniques have been innovative in recent decades with the aim of maximizing the dose to tumor tissue and reducing the dose to healthy tissue. One of the modalities that has gained prominence, using low-energy beams, is intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), as it is a method based on high radiation doses (10–20 Gy) administered to the tumor bed immediately after surgical excision. IORT can be achieved through treatment with low-energy X-ray beams with some devices available on the market. However, such devices provide little dosimetric information and lack a calibration protocol. According to the recently updated recommendations of the TRS 398 standard (2024), for the use of low-energy beams, the ideal is to use a parallel plate ionization chamber calibrated in terms of absorbed dose in water. Based on TRS 398, this work established a calibration protocol for parallel plate dosimeters in terms of absorbed dose in water at the Center for Ionizing Radiation Metrology (CEMRI) of the Institute for Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN).

        Downloads

        Download data is not yet available.

        Author Biography

        • Fábio Sabará Dias, Nuclear Energy Research Institute

          Graduado em Tecnologia em Radiologia pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (2013), mestrado em Ciências das Radiações - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia das Radiações, Minerais e Materiais no Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (2018), especialização em Radioterapia pela INACI / FINACI (2021). Atualmente doutorando no programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologia Nuclear no Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares. Desenvolvo pesquisas na área de Física Médica, com ênfase em Metrologia das Radiações, Proteção Radiológica e Dosimetria, atuando principalmente nos temas: radioterapia, calibração de dosímetros, radiodiagnóstico médico e odontológico, proteção radiológica, controle de qualidade e dosímetros. Atualmente é docente das Especializações técnicas de Radioterapia e Mamografia e do curso Técnico de Radiologia do Senac Campinas

        References

        [1] IARC. The International Agency For Research On Cancer. News and events. Disponível em: https://www.iarc.who.int/news-events/latest-global-cancer-data-cancer-burden-rises-to-19-3-million-new-cases-and-10-0-million-cancer-deaths-in-2020/. Accessed on Jun. 2025.

        [2] TEHRANI. Y. A; SETAYESHI. S. Intra-operative radiotherapy in breast cancer treatment: A literature review. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. v. 21. n. 9. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5812/ircmj.93304

        [3] HENSLEY. F.W. Present state and issues in IORT Physics. Radiation Oncology. v. 12. n. 1. p. 1-30. 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-016-0754-z

        [4] IAEA - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY. Dosimetry in brachytherapy. An International code of practice for secondary standards dosimetry laboratories and hospitals. Vienna. 2023. (Technical Report Series. 492).

        [5] IAEA - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY. Absorbed dose determination in external beam radiotherapy. An International code of practice for dosimetry based on standards of absorbed dose to water. Vienna. 2024. (Technical Report Series. 398).

        [6] BIPM. Bureau International Des Poids Et Measures. Measuring conditions used for the calibration of ionization chambers at the BIPM. France. 1991 (Rapport BIPM – 91/5).

        [7] BESSA. A. C. M. Intercomparação de câmaras de ionização em feixes padrões de raios x. níveis radioterapia. radiodiagnóstico e radioproteção. 2007. Dissertação (Mestrado em Tecnologia Nuclear - Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares – IPEN-CNEN/SP). São Paulo – SP

        [8] IAEA - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY. Calibration of reference dosimeters for external beam radiotherapy. Vienna. 2009. (Technical Report Series. 469).

        [9] DAVIS. A. T.; Safi. H. and Maddison. S. M. The reduction of dose in paediatric panoramic radiography: the impact of collimator height and programme selection. Department of Medical Physics. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. Queen Alexandra Hospital. Portsmouth. UK. A Journal of Head & Neck Imaging. November 20. 2014. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1259/dmfr.20140223 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1259/dmfr.20140223

        [10] OLIVEIRA. C. T. Desenvolvimento de uma metodologia para calibração de câmaras de ionização de placas paralelas em feixes de raios X de energia baixa em termos de dose absorvida em água. 2015. Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear - Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares – IPEN-CNEN/SP

        [11] DIN. DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FÜR NORMUNG. Clinical dosimetry. Part 4: application of X-radiation with tube voltages of 10 to 100 kV in radiotherapy and soft tissue diagnostics. Germany. 1988. (DIN 6809 Part 4).

        Downloads

        Published

        2026-02-06

        Issue

        Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026)

        Section

        Original Articles

        License

        Copyright (c) 2026 Fábio Dias, Orlando Rodrigues Jr, Maria da Penha Albuquerque Potiens

        Creative Commons License

        This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

        Licensing: The BJRS articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/