RADIOACTIVE SOURCE PROJECTOR

• US 3,861,380 A
• Filed: 10/24/1972
• Issued: 01/21/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Compagnie ORIS Industrie SA
• Original Assignee: Daniel Chassagne, Gilles Delouche, Jean-Antoine Rocoplan, Jean Fradin
• Inventors: Delouche, Gilles, Chassagne, Daniel, Fradin, Jean, Rocoplan, Jean-Antoine
• Primary Examiner(s): Howell, Kyle L.
• Application Number:
  US05/300,222
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 128/1.1,1.2 250/363,366,369,327,303,393,497-507
• US Class Current: 250/497.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1008 Apparatus for temporary insertion of sources, e.g. afterloaders
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1007 Arrangements or means for the introduction of sources into the body
• CPC Class Codes: G21F 5/02 with provision for restricted exposure of a radiation source within the container

Abstract

A radioactive source projector for the treatment of cancerous lesions, said projector comprising, on the one hand, a projector unit containing a shield block and, on the other hand, ancillary means for displacing radioactive sources, said means being constituted by source-holders formed by a flexible metallic spring and each of which is intended to be applied at one end in the vicinity of the lesions, and to be joined to an actuating cable, each source holder being contained in a flexible tube secured to a flexible ejection sheath.

Claims

1. A radioactive-source projector which comprises:

1. a moveable casing including openings;

2. source-holder means in said casing and extendable through said openings, said source-holder meAns containing radioactive sources, and said source-holder means including a flexible tubular element that is closed at one end and adapted to be applied to the vicinity of a cancerous tissue to be treated in a living body, and that is opened at the other end for receiving said radioactive sources;

3. shield block means in said casing containing said sourceholder means to afford protection against the radioactive sources positioned within said moveable casing;

4. flexible outer tube means receiving said one end of said source-holder means, said outer tube means having a small outer diameter and being adapted to be placed adjacent to the surface of a living body for treatment of cancerous tissue;

5. flexible ejection sheath means having one end connected to said shield block means and another end connected removably to said flexible outer tube for guiding said source-holder means from said shield block means to said flexible outer tube means;

6. actuating cable means removably coupled to said sourceholder means for displacing said source-holder means through said flexible ejection sheath means; and

7. transfer means for transferring said actuating cable means and the associated source-holder means via said flexible ejection sheath means from said shield block means to said outer tube means and from said outer tube means to said shield block means.

2. The projector according to claim 1, further comprising another source-holder means in said casing containing dummy non-radioactive sources adapted to be connected to said actuating cable and to be used in place of said source-holder means containing radioactive sources.

3. The projector according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said source-holder means containing radioactive sources are provided with an equal plurality of associated flexible outer tube means, actuating cable means, flexible ejection sheath means and transfer means, each of said associated means being associated, respectively, with each of said source-holder means and with said shield block means whereby a plurality of said cancerous tissues can be treated with said projector.

4. flexible outer tube means receiving said one end of said source-holder means, said outer tube means having a small outer diameter and being adapted to be placed adjacent to the surface of a living body for treatment of cancerous tissue;

5. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said source-holder means is connected to said actuating cable means by a rapid coupling means.

6. actuating cable means removably coupled to said source-holder means for displacing said source-holder means through said flexible ejection sheath means;

and

7. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said source-holder means is a thin elongated metallic element having an external diameter on the order of 2 mm.

8. The projector according to claim 1, wherein the radioactive sources contained in said source-holder means are cesium-137 sources.

9. The projector according to claim 1, wherein a train of sources is housed in said source-holder means said train being formed by a plurality of unit sources having a diameter of 1.5 mm to provide a total activity of 650 mc.

10. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said outer flexible tube means has an external diameter on the order of 5 mm and a length on the order of 30 cm.

11. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said shield block means is formed of tungsten and lead.

12. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said shield block means is formed of depleted uranium.

13. The projector according to claim 1, wherein said source-holder means includes an abutment member which contacts an open end of said flexible outer tube means to prevent the source-holder means from passing beyond a correct irradiation position at the front of said open end of said flexible outer tube means.