Design and Construction of Cervix Phantom for Brachytherapy Dose Assessment Procedure for Clinical Application

Abstract

An important point to consider in a brachytherapy dosimetry study is the design of an appropriate phantom size in calculations or experimental measurements. Perspex sheets of various size and thickness are used to design the cervix phantom. The aim of the study is to design and construct cervix phantom to mimic the pelvic segment of a standard adult human patients undergoing Brachytherapy. This is to allow assessment of dose to cervix and the surrounding tissues during cervix Brachytherapy. The methodology include; first phantom design where physical dimensions of the phantom were determined from a sampling of 30 patients’ cases to simulate an average patient size. Secondly, construction of phantom with fabricated cylindrical shape, composed of 6 mm Perspex sheets, and the assembly enclosed with the 4 mm Perspex sheet. The result of the constructed phantom had lateral separation of 34 cm, an anterior and posterior separation of 27 cm; with length of 33 cm. The Perspex pieces were glued to each other with Trichloromethane (chloroform) at room temperature. Chloroform dissolves the Perspex (PMMA), and when applied to the surfaces of the Perspex sheets, the surfaces stick together after the chloroform dries up. In forming the surface of the phantom, the 4 mm Perspex sheet was oven heated to a temperature of 140?C to make the sheet malleable. One end of the phantom was made thicker than the other end by gluing another 6 mm Perspex sheet such that the thickness of that particular end of the phantom was 12 mm. A hole of diameter 6.5 cm, which was a little bit posterior to the phantom, was created central to the 12 mm end of the phantom. The opening created was covered by 11 x 11 cm2 and 12 mm Perspex slab which was formed by gluing two 6 mm sheets together. A hole of diameter 5 cm was also made central to the cover created, such that the centre of this hole matches that of the hole on the end of the phantom. A 2.4 cm thick ring with internal diameter of 5 cm and external diameter of 6 cm was fabricated from 2.4 cm Perspex slab, which was formed from gluing four pieces of 6 mm Perspex sheets together. The fabricated ring was mounted on the 11 x 11 cm2 cover created such that the internal walls of the ring and that of the hole in the cover matches. The ring was then glued to the cover using the chloroform. The built phantom simulate actual patient anatomy and produce an excellent result to be use for clinical application.