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Carbon Fiber/Polyether Ether Ketone (CF/PEEK) Implants Allow for More Effective Radiation in Long Bones

C. Laux, Christina Villefort, S. Ehrbar, L. Wilke, M. Guckenberger, Daniel A. Müller

Materials, 2020

29 citations

Abstract

Background: Metallic implants show dose-modulating effects in radiotherapy and complicate its computed tomography (CT)-based planning. Dose deviations might not only affect the surrounding tissues due to backscattering and inadvertent dose increase but might also compromise the therapeutic effect to the target lesion due to beam attenuation. Later on, follow-up imaging is often obscured by metallic artefacts. Purposes: This study investigates the dosimetric impact of titanium and radiolucent carbon fiber/polyether ether ketone (CF/PEEK) implants during adjuvant radiation therapy in long bones. (1) Does the use of CF/PEEK implants allow for a more homogenous application of radiation? (2) Is the dose delivery to the target volume more efficient when using CF/PEEK implants? (3) Do CF/PEEK implants facilitate CT-based radiation therapy planning? Materials and methods: After CT-based planning, bone models of six ovine femora were irradiated within a water phantom in two immersion depths to simulate different soft-tissue envelopes. Plates and intramedullary nails of both titanium and CF/PEEK were investigated. Radiation dosage and distribution patterns were mapped using dosimetry films. Results: First, the planned implant-related beam attenuation was lower for the CF/PEEK plate (1% vs. 5%) and the CF/PEEK nail (2% vs. 9%) than for corresponding titanium implants. Secondly, the effective decrease of radiation dosage behind the implants was noticeably smaller when using CF/PEEK…

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