Physical dosimetry of 125I seeds of a new design for interstitial implant.

The physical characteristics of a new 125I seed, consisting of radioactive iodine absorbed on a silver wire and contained in a sealed titanium shell, have been measured. Advantages of the new seed design are: increased radiopacity, possible determination of seed orientation in an implant for dosimetric calculations, and source strength specification traceable to the National Bureau of Standards. Spectroscopic analysis of the new seed using an intrinsic Ge detector revealed the 27.4, 31.4 and 35.5kev photons from the decay of 125I, and in addition, 22.1 and 25.2kev fluorescent X ray from the silver wire. Measured and calculated relative dose distribution along the perpendicular bisector of the new seed is similar to that of the existing seed, with a slightly more rapid fall-off due to the existence of the lower energy photons. The measured angular distributions of the seeds of the two designs are similar, exhibiting significant anisotropy. A protocol of source strength specification, choice of effective gamma constant value and dose calculation relative to 125I implants is suggested.