Obtention of brachytherapy seeds by sealing process using polymer

Brachytherapy is an advanced cancer treatment where radioactive seeds or sources are placed near or directly into the tumor thus reducing the radiation exposure in the surrounding healthy tissues. Several kinds of seeds have been developed in order to obtain a better dose distribution around them and with a lower cost manufacturing. These seeds consist of an encapsulation (titanium or stainless steel tube), a radionuclide carrier, and X-ray marker. The usual sealing process of the seeds is done with laser welding, but this process can promote radionuclide volatilization. In this paper, we present a new sealing process using epoxy resin and characterizations of two epoxy resins. These resins were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Interactions of the resins and of the sealed seeds in a simulated body fluid (SBF) were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and by a counting gamma-rays. (author)