Patient release criteria for low dose rate brachytherapy implants.

Dale E Boyce, Michael A Sheetz

IsoRay Medical, Inc., Richland, WA 99354, USA. DBoyce@IsoRay.com

Health physics 2013 Apr

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A lack of consensus regarding a model governing the release of patients following sealed source brachytherapy has led to a set of patient release policies that vary from institution to institution. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued regulatory guidance on patient release in NUREG 1556, Volume 9, Rev. 2, Appendix U, which allows calculation of release limits following implant brachytherapy. While the formalism presented in NUREG is meaningful for the calculation of release limits in the context of relatively high energy gamma emitters, it does not estimate accurately the effective dose equivalent for the common low dose rate brachytherapy sources Cs, I, and Pd. NUREG 1556 states that patient release may be based on patient-specific calculations as long as the calculation is documented. This work is intended to provide a format for patient-specific calculations to be used for the consideration of patients' release following the implantation of certain low dose rate brachytherapy isotopes.