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2.2.1 Medical Applications of Radiation Sources

(i) Radiotherapy

Teletherapy

Teletherapy is a branch of radiotherapy in
which tumour is treated by using ionising radiation
keeping radiation source(s) at certain distance. The
radioisotope like Co and radiation generators such
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as Linear Accelerators are used.

Proton Beam Therapy
It is a type of radiation therapy that uses a beam of protons
having energies 70 to 230 MeV. Proton beam is specifically
beneficial in treating paediatric cancers and deep-seated tumours
more effectively than the conventional Gamma/ X-ray radiation
therapy. First-of-a-kind Proton Beam Therapy facility in the
country was licenced in December 2018.
Sources and devices used in teletherapy are of high radiation
hazard potential.

Brachytherapy

In brachytherapy, source is kept very near to the lesion. The radioisotopes used
are Ir, Cs, Sr, Ru, I and Co with activity range from few MBq to GBq. They
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are of moderate radiation hazard potential as compared to teletherapy.

(ii) Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine facility uses very small amount of
radioactive material in the form of radio-pharmaceuticals
(eg. 99m Tc, 131 I, 201 Tl and 18 F) for diagnosis and treatment.
Imaging equipment such as PET-CT and SPECT are used in
these practices. The facilities using radio-pharmaceuticals are of
moderate-to-low radiation hazard.

38 AERB Annual Report 2019