Physics Corner

After a successful meeting in Florida, the Quality Management School will be moving to the West for 2012.

We are looking forward to another exciting program and interactive meeting.

The ABS Physics Committee and Q.M. School faculty are preparing template QA forms for popular LDR/HDR brachytherapy procedures. Once completed, these forms will be made available online for ABS members.

While air-kerma strength has been a recommended unit of source strength for a few decades, mistakes converting from apparent activity have been made. In coordination with the AAPM, the ABS is preparing NRC rulemaking recommendations to transition from antiquated units of source strength such as apparent activity to traceable quantities such as air-kerma strength.

In addition to the series of forthcoming ABS reports on practice guidelines for GYN, breast, and prostate brachytherapy, there are several reports recently published or under review that are of special interest to the brachytherapy physics community:

• TG-138: A dosimetric uncertainty analysis for photon-emitting brachytherapy sources: Report of AAPM Task Group No. 138 and GEC-ESTRO. MedPhys 38, 782-801 (2011).
  
  
• TG-144: Recommendations of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine on dosimetry, imaging, and quality assurance procedures for ⁹⁰Y microsphere brachytherapy in the treatment of hepatic malignancies. MedPhys 38, 4824-4845 (2011).
  
  
• ASTRO: Definition of medical event is to be based on the total source strength for evaluation of permanent brachytherapy: A report from the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Practical Radiat Oncol (in press).
  
  
• TG-129: Dosimetry of ¹²⁵I and ¹⁰³Pd COMS eye plaques for intraocular tumors: Report of AAPM Task Group 129. Med Phys (under review).
  
  

Finally, we would like to remind all of our colleagues of the open invitation to attend the Brachytherapy Physics Committee meetings as held during the ABS and World Congress Brachytherapy meetings as well as the AAPM annual meeting.