Abstract

Background: I-125 is one of the important sources frequently used in brachytherapy. Up to now, several different commercial models of this source type have been introduced to the clinical radiation oncology applications. Recently, a new source model, IrSeed-125, has been added to this list. The aim of the present study is to determine the dosimetric parameters of this new source model based on the recommendations of TG-43 (U1) protocol using Monte Carlo simulation. Methods: The dosimetric characteristics of Ir-125 including dose rate constant, radial dose function, 2D anisotropy function and 1D anisotropy function were determined inside liquid water using MCNPX code and compared to those of other commercially available iodine sources. Results: The dose rate constant of this new source was found to be 0.983+0.015 cGyh(-1)U(-1) that was in good agreement with the TLD measured data (0.965 cGyh(-1)U(-1)). The 10 anisotropy function at 3, 5, and 7 cm radial distances were obtained as 0.954, 0.953 and 0.959, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the dosimetric characteristics of this new brachytherapy source are comparable with those of other commercially available sources. Furthermore, the simulated parameters were in accordance with the previously measured ones. Therefore, the Monte Carlo calculated dosimetric parameters could be employed to obtain the dose distribution around this new brachytherapy source based on TG-43 (U1) protocol.