Radiographic Control of 137-Cs Brachytherapy Sources

137Cs brachytherapy sources are practical for the intracavitary application due to their relatively long lifetime (T1/2 = 30 y). On the other hand, due to the relatively low energy (0.66 MeV) of the emitted photons, they are suitable for an efficient radiation protection. The dose distribution around the sources is usually calculated by a specific program. However this program requires the knowledge of the position of sources within the applicator as well as the distribution of activity along them. The only way to learn these data is to make an X-ray picture of applicators and sources superimposed to the autoradiography of every source. It is difficult to achieve satisfactory radiographs with high dose rate sources with standard X-ray film material because autoradiography covers the structure of the radiographic shadow. The problem can be overcome either by applying a high intensity X-ray or gamma beam (originating from a radiotherapeutic machine), or by using photographic material of very low sensitivity, for example photographic paper. Combining both possibilities one can obtain satisfactory images. (author)