Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39460996›Full record

ArticleMedical physics2025

E-Brachy: New dosimetry package for electronic brachytherapy sources.

Azin Esmaelbeigi, Jonathan Kalinowski, Nada Tomic, Mark J Rivard, Te Vuong, Slobodan Devic, Shirin A Enger

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical physics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Azin EsmaelbeigiMedical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Jonathan KalinowskiMedical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Nada TomicMedical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Mark J RivardDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Te VuongDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Slobodan DevicDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Shirin A EngerMedical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Funding

Canada Research Chairs Program 252135Jewish General Hospital Foundation, and the TransMedTech Institute's activities
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLarge reported variability in the material composition and geometrical components of the Xoft electronic high dose rate brachytherapy causes inter-source discrepancy in the source output. This variability is due to the manual manufacturing and assembly of the sources. PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a dosimetry software tool called E-Brachy to characterize the Xoft source and quantify the discrepancies in its photon spectrum and dosimetric properties.

methodsE-Brachy is based on the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit and consists of two parts. In part one, the geometry and material composition for the source received in the computer-aided design format from the vendor were converted to the geometry description markup language format using the GUIMesh Python tool and integrated into the E-Brachy software. There was a large variation in material composition and thickness for some of the tube components. The simulation started from electrons and resulted in x-ray generations in the anode region. Multithreading, a track length estimation, and the uniform bremsstrahlung splitting variance reduction techniques were used to decrease the simulation time and increase the x-ray production. The photon energy, position, and momentum were saved into a phase space file as the photon exited the source, but before interacting with the external environment. The obtained x-ray energy spectrum was compared with measurements from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In part two, by sampling from the generated photons, the dose rates and dosimetric parameters according to the TG-43 protocol were calculated for model S7500 and compared to the ones previously calculated for model S700 source, which were deemed identical by the manufacturer.

resultsThe material composition that resulted in the most similar spectrum as the measured NIST spectrum with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.99 and a calculated Euclidean difference of

conclusionsA software package called E-Brachy was successfully developed for the characterization and dosimetry of Xoft electronic brachytherapy sources. E-Brachy can be combined with spectral measurements to investigate the inter- and intra-source variability. The software package was tested by comparing the simulated spectra from the S7500 Xoft source model with NIST measurements and its TG-43 parameters with the S700 model. The TG-43 parameters between the two sources significantly exceed the recommendations of TG-56.

Indexed as

BrachytherapyMonte Carlo MethodRadiometrySoftwarePhotonsRadiotherapy Dosagedosimetryelectronic brachytherapymonte carlo simulations

Identifiers

PMID39460996
PMCPMC11700009

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.