Surgery – Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy
Patent
1996-08-29
1998-06-30
Lacyk, John P.
Surgery
Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy
A61N 500
Patent
active
057725748
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a device for medical radiation therapy with a deformable carrier mat for guide sleeves which can be applied in the treatment area of patients, in which mat a radiation source which is essentially point-shaped can be displaced and positioned, wherein the carrier mat has prefabricated mounting channels running within its mat plane to accommodate the guide sleeves or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In radiation therapy the so called afterloading technique is already known, wherein a tube-shaped applicator, constructed as a guide sleeve, is first brought to a desired position at the position to be treated. Following this a radioactive preparation, as the radiation source, is pushed by remote control from a radiation protective container to the treatment position in the applicator through a hollow sonde which is coupled with the applicator.
As support for several guide sleeves or applicators, moulages made of a pliable deformable material, e.g. plasticine, foam rubber or the like are used, into which the needle-shaped guide sleeves are inserted. To the outside ends of the guide sleeves hollow probes can be joined, which are connected to the afterloading device and through which the radiation sources situated in the radiation protection container can be pushed one after the other into the individual guide sleeves (applicators).
For a targeted therapy it is necessary to position the guide sleeve accurately within the carrier mat (moulage). At the same time it should be remembered that the radiation intensity does not decrease linearly with the distance to the radiation source, but, depending on the secondary radiation, there is a maximum intensity at a certain distance from the radiation source.
Thus for the calculation of the radiation dosage the position of the moulage itself relative to the treatment area on the one hand and the position of the guide sleeves within the carrier mat on the other, are of importance.
When inserting the guide sleeves made of plastic material into the carrier mat the problem arises that a straight course of the guide sleeves and an accurate maintenance of the constant distance to the surface of the carrier mat and to the adjacent guide sleeves cannot be realised in practice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To keep a lateral deflection of the guide sleeves in check when inserting them into the carrier mat, steel mandrels are pushed into the guide sleeves for the insertion operation to achieve a somewhat greater rigidity. Despite this during manual insertion, an accurate maintenance of the position of the guide sleeves is not feasible within the required limits.
A further problem arises due to the fact that the guide sleeves should to be as short as possible because the inserting operation becomes more difficult as the length of the guide sleeve increases and for this reason they are essentially determined by the size of the carrier mat. The connections for the hollow probes which lead to the afterloading device are thus in the vicinity of the carrier mat and, when treating the inside of the body, consequently inconveniently in an area where the contact positions with the body fluids, blood and the like may come into contact.
From EP 292 630 A1 a device for medical radiation therapy is already known, which has prefabricated mounting channels situated within its mat plane for the guide sleeves, so that accordingly an accurate positioning for a radiation source is feasible. The carrier mats used in this case are conceived as once-only products and are made of absorbing material. They are also very thin.
As it has been already mentioned, it needs to be considered that the radiation intensity does not decrease linearly with the distance, but that there is a maximum intensity at a very definite distance from the radiation source.
A typical (minimum) distance of the radiation source from the treatment place is approx. 5 mm, so that the carrier mat serving the purpose of guiding as well as spacing must have a corresponding thickness, e.g. a
REFERENCES:
patent: 2829636 (1958-04-01), Henschke
patent: 4963128 (1990-10-01), Daniel et al.
patent: 5030195 (1991-07-01), Nardi
B.V. Optische Industrie "De Oude Delft"
Lacyk John P.
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