Marker-flange for MRI-guided brachytherapy
AssigneeUniversity of Iowa Research Foundation
InventorYusung Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a marker-flange for use with a brachytherapy applicator, having a flange body with a first face, a second face, and a hollow chamber positioned between the first and second faces. A cavity extending through the flange body is dimensioned to receive a tandem in a brachytherapy applicator in a press-fit connection, so as to affix the flange-marker to an outside surface of the tandem. The hollow chamber includes an MR imaging responsive marker agent that provides strong signal intensities and a high geometric accuracy in MR imaging.
Claims22
A marker-flange for use with a brachytherapy applicator, comprising:
- a flange body having a first face and a second face, with a hollow chamber positioned in the flange body between the first and second faces;
- a cavity comprising a first cavity opening on the first face and a second cavity opening on the second face, the cavity extending through the flange body and dimensioned to receive a tandem in a brachytherapy applicator in a press-fit connection;
- a port comprising a port opening positioned on one of the first and second faces of the flange body, the port being configured to communicate with the hollow chamber;
- and
- a sealing agent contained within the port opening, the sealing agent providing an air-tight seal between the hollow chamber and an external environment outside the flange body.
A brachytherapy applicator, comprising:
- a marker flange comprising a flange body having a first face and a second face, with a hollow chamber positioned in the flange body between the first and second faces, the hollow chamber configured to receive and retain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging responsive marker agent;
- and
- a cavity extending through the flange body and dimensioned to receive a tandem in the brachytherapy applicator, without the outer surface of the tandem contacting a surface of the flange body that defines the cavity, wherein
- the brachytherapy applicator is a tandem-and-ring applicator, and the marker-flange is an integrated ring portion in the tandem-and-ring applicator, with one of the first and second faces of the flange body configured to abut a cervix upon use of the tandem-and-ring applicator with insertion of the tandem into a cervical OS.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.