Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
13
Glasses for Radiotherapy
Delbert E. Day
Center for Bone and Tissue Repair, Graduate Center for Materials
Research, Materials Science and Engineering Department, Missouri
University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA
13.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is intended to give a general introduction, from the materials
science perspective, of glasses that have been investigated, and in some
cases are being used, for the
in situ
irradiation of diseased organs in
the body or what is called brachytherapy. Radiation therapy of tumors
works on the principle that radiation can damage the DNA in cells and,
while turning cancerous, cells lose their ability to regenerate their DNA.
Brachytherapy is not a new medical technique, but the use of glass as a
radioactive delivery vehicle is relatively new, beginning about 25 years
ago when radioactive glass microspheres were first used for the
in situ
irradiation of malignant tumors in the liver [1-3]. The types of glasses
and their properties relevant to
in vivo
radiotherapy applications are
described. Selected applications where glass microspheres have been used
for
in situ
irradiation will also be described, particularly the treatment
of patients with inoperable liver cancer.
