Experimental determination of the dose rate constant for selected 125I- and 192Ir-brachytherapy sources

In 2008, the European project ‘T2.J06, Increasing cancer treatment efficacy using 3D brachytherapy’ was launched. One of the main goals of the Joint Research Project was the experimental determination of the dose rate constant Λ to allow the linkage between the air kerma strength or reference air kerma rate currently used for the source characterization and the ‘new’ absorbed dose rate to water with an uncertainty of <3% (k = 1) for some selected brachytherapy sources. The results obtained by five National Metrology Institutes (NMI) for four different types of brachytherapy sources are presented and compared with consensus data published in the literature. A further goal of the project was to develop a calibration chain for the transfer of the new reference quantity to the end user, minimizing the uncertainty. A first direct calibration in terms of absorbed dose rate to water of a secondary standard and the dissemination to the hospitals is presented.