Cs-137 brachytherapy sources calibration with well chamber

This work describes the procedures and actions developed for the identification and reference air kerma rate (Sk) verification of Cs-137 sources used in gynecological brachytherapy practices. Following the IAEA TECDOC 1151 recommendations, the first stage consisted in designing the documentation required for the inventory and shipping registry of sources, along with the digital spreadsheets for calculating the decay and Sk of the sources at the moment of implantation. As a second stage, the Sk of sources was measured, following the low dose rate sources protocol advise, with a Standard Imaging HDR 1000 Plus well chamber calibrated at the University of Wisconsin SSDL. The documentation generated through this procedure allows identify each source clearly and uni-vocally. No significant differences were found between the Sk values obtained from the well chamber calibration procedure and those reported by the manufacturer in the corresponding certificates. The highest percent difference found was 2.3%. (author)