| Abstrakt: |
In order to determine the dosage of gamma rays received at various points throughout the human pelvis when different distributions of radium are used, a number of experiments have been carried out in the Department of Physics at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, using a model pelvis; this model reproduced as nearly as possible for radiological purposes the conditions prevailing in the actual treatment of cases of carcinoma of the cervix.Other investigators have shown, and out observations confirm their findings, that, to a sufficiently high degree of approximation, paraffin wax absorbs and scatters the gamma rays of radium to the same extent as water and human tissue. Consequently, in the model used, a vagina, uterus, and adnexæ, obtained from a post-mortem case and hardened in formalin, were embedded in a wax-filled, bony female pelvis, the anatomical positions of the organs, with a moderately distended bladder, being secured by suspending them with threads from the pelvis walls before the molten wax was poured in.The upper surface of the paraffin wax was first adjusted to coincide with the brim of the true pelvis, and then, after hollowing out the space corresponding to the vagina, four tunnels, along which dosage-rate measurements were made, were bored. These tunnels were then filled with wooden rods, which projected about 10 cm. above the upper surface of the wax. |
