[Brachytherapy at the Institut Gustave-Roussy: personalized vaginal mould applicator: technical modification and improvement].
Brachytherapy plays an important role in the treatment of patients with gynaecological cancers. At the Institut Gustave-Roussy, the technique of vaginal mould applicator has been used for decades. This technique allows a personalized tailored irradiation, integrating tumour shape, size and extension and vaginal anatomy. Vaginal expansion reduces the dose to the vaginal mucosa and to the organs at risk. We report a modification of the material used for vaginal mould manufacture. The advantages of the new material are a lighter weight, and transparency allowing a better accuracy in the placement of catheters for radioactive sources. This material is applicable for low dose-rate, pulse dose-rate and high dose-rate brachytherapy. Since 2001, more than 700 vaginal moulds have been manufactured with this new approach without any intolerance.
Albano
M
M
Service de curiethérapie, institut Gustave-Roussy, rue Camille-Desmoulins, 94800 Villejuif, France. maryvonne.albano@igr.fr
Dumas
I
I
Haie-Meder
C
C
D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D002404:Catheterization; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000528:radiation effects; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D014621:Vagina / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000528:radiation effects*