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The role of Cobalt-60 in modern radiation therapy: Dose delivery and image guidance

2009; Medknow; Volume: 34; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4103/0971-6203.54846

1998-3913

L J Schreiner, Chandra P. Joshi, Johnson Darko, A Kerr, G Salomons, S Dhanesar,

Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry

The advances in modern radiation therapy with techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy and image-guided radiation therapy (IMRT and IGRT) have been limited almost exclusively to linear accelerators. Investigations of modern Cobalt-60 (Co-60) radiation delivery in the context of IMRT and IGRT have been very sparse, and have been limited mainly to computer-modeling and treatment-planning exercises. In this paper, we report on the results of experiments using a tomotherapy benchtop apparatus attached to a conventional Co-60 unit. We show that conformal dose delivery is possible and also that Co-60 can be used as the radiation source in megavoltage computed tomography imaging. These results complement our modeling studies of Co-60 tomotherapy and provide a strong motivation for continuing development of modern Cobalt-60 treatment devices.