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Dosimetric perturbations of a lead shield for surface and interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy

In surface and interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy with either 60Co, 192Ir, or 169Yb sources, some radiosensitive organs near the surface may be exposed to high absorbed doses. This may be reduced by covering the implants with a lead shield on the body surface, which results in dosimetric perturbations. Monte Carlo simulations in Geant4 were performed for the three radionuclides placed at a single dwell position. Four different shield thicknesses (0, 3, 6, and 10 mm) and three different source depths (0, 5, and 10 mm) in water were considered, with the lead shield placed at the phantom surface. Backscatter dose enhancement and transmission data were obtained for the lead shields. Results were corrected to account for a realistic clinical case with multiple dwell positions. The range of the high backscatter dose enhancement in water is 3 mm for 60Co and 1 mm for both 192Ir and 169Yb. Transmission data for 60Co and 192Ir are smaller than those reported by Papagiannis et al (2008 Med. Phys. 35 4898–4906) for brachytherapy facility shielding; for 169Yb, the difference is negligible. In conclusion, the backscatter overdose produced by the lead shield can be avoided by just adding a few millimetres of bolus. Transmission data provided in this work as a function of lead thickness can be used to estimate healthy organ equivalent dose saving. Use of a lead shield is justified.