Radiation shields for brachytherapy
AssigneeThe Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/Mcgill University
InventorsShirin Abbasi Enger, Marc Morcos, Gabriel Famulari, Tristan Shoemaker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A shield assembly for an intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) system, has: a tubular applicator engageable to a rotating mechanism of the IMBT system, the tubular applicator having a peripheral wall enclosing an internal cavity extending longitudinally along a central axis; a radiation shield extending axially along the central axis and received within the internal cavity, the radiation shield made of an MRI-compatible and radiation attenuating material; and a radionuclide-receiving passage within the internal cavity of the tubular applicator, the radionuclide-receiving passage extending axially and being radially offset from the central axis.
Claims18
A shield assembly for an intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) system, comprising:
- a tubular applicator engageable to a rotating mechanism of the IMBT system, the tubular applicator having a peripheral wall enclosing an internal cavity extending longitudinally along a central axis;
- a radiation shield extending axially along the central axis and received within the internal cavity, the radiation shield made of an MRI-compatible and radiation attenuating material, the radiation shield including radiation shield sections interconnected to one another and pivotable one relative to the other about axes transverse to the central axis, the radiation shield sections are interconnected to one another by joints, the joints permitting rotation about the axes and preventing the radiation shield sections from translating one relative to the other along the central axis, a joint of the joints including:
- a ball protruding axially from an axial end face of one of the radiation shield sections and a rounded cavity extending from an axial end face of an adjacent one of the radiation shield sections, the ball received within the rounded cavity, or
- a tab protruding from an axial end face of one of the radiation shield sections and a recess extending from the axial end face of an adjacent one of the radiation shield sections, the tab pivotably received within the recess, the tab locked within the recess via a pin extending through a first aperture defined through the tab and through a second aperture defined through the adjacent one of the radiation shield sections;
- and
- a radionuclide-receiving passage within the internal cavity of the tubular applicator, the radionuclide-receiving passage extending axially and being radially offset from the central axis.
An intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) system, comprising a rotating system and a shield assembly drivingly engaged to the rotating system for rotating the shield assembly about a central axis thereof, the shield assembly having:
- a tubular applicator including a peripheral wall enclosing an internal cavity extending axially along the central axis;
- a radiation shield within the internal cavity and extending axially along the central axis, the radiation shield made of an MRI-compatible and radiation attenuating material;
- and a radionuclide-receiving passage within the internal cavity of the tubular applicator, the radionuclide-receiving passage being eccentric relative to the internal cavity of the tubular applicator, the radiation shield defining apertures extending from an outer surface of the radiation shield to the radionuclide-receiving passage, the apertures axially spaced-apart from one another along the central axis and being circumferentially aligned with one another, the apertures located at a single circumferential position relative to the central axis, the radiation shield devoid of apertures outside the single circumferential position, wherein the radiation shield includes:
- radiation shield sections interconnected to one another and pivotable one relative to the other about an axis normal to the central axis;
- and a monolithic body defining a flexible section, the flexible section including a plurality of slits, each of the slits extending from an outer face of the monolithic body toward the central axis, the slits ending at a core, discs defined between the slits and being axially spaced apart from one another to allow bending of the core.
A shield assembly for an intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) system, comprising:
- a tubular applicator engageable to a rotating mechanism of the IMBT system, the tubular applicator having a peripheral wall enclosing an internal cavity extending longitudinally along a central axis;
- a radiation shield extending axially along the central axis and received within the internal cavity, the radiation shield made of an MRI-compatible and radiation attenuating material, the radiation shield including shield sections interconnected to one another via a core, the core being flexible, the shield sections pivotable one relative to the other about axes transverse to the central axis via flexion of the core;
- and
- a radionuclide-receiving passage within the internal cavity of the tubular applicator, the radionuclide-receiving passage extending axially and being radially offset from the central axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.