A dosimetry method for low dose rate brachytherapy by EGS5 combined with regression to reflect source strength shortage

The post-implantation dosimetry for brachytherapy using Monte Carlo calculation by EGS5 code combined with the source strength regression was investigated with respect to its validity. In this method, the source strength for the EGS5 calculation was adjusted with the regression, so that the calculation would reproduce the dose monitored with the glass rod dosimeters (GRDs) on a water phantom. The experiments were performed, simulating the case where one of two 125 I sources of Oncoseed 6711 was lacking strength by 4–48%. As a result, the calculation without regression was in agreement with the GRD measurement within 26–62%. In this case, the shortage in strength of a source was neglected. By the regression, in order to reflect the strength shortage, the agreement was improved up to 17–24%. This agreement was also comparable with accuracy of the dose calculation for single source geometry reported previously. These results suggest the validity of the dosimetry method proposed in this study.