Abstract
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High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a radiation treatment technique capable of delivering
large dose rates to the tumor. Radiation is delivered using remote afterloaders to drive highly
active sources (commonly 192Ir with an air KERMA strength range between 20 000 and 40 000 U,
where 1 U = 1 μGy m2/h in air) through applicators directly into the patient’s prescribed region of
treatment. Due to the obvious ramifications of incorrect treatment while using such an active source,
it is essential that there are methods for quality assurance (QA) that can directly and accurately verify
the treatment plan and the functionality of the remote afterloader. This paper describes the feasibility
study of a QA system for HDR brachytherapy using a phantom based two-dimensional 11 × 11
epitaxial diode array, named “magic phantom.”