Please explain seed “half life”. How long will each kind of seed be radioactive after implantation?
Half-life describes the time in which an isotope loses half of its strength. For example, iodine, which has a half-life of 60 days, will be half of its strength at 60 days. 60 days later it will be half of this strength. It takes about six months for iodine to be at about 10% of its original strength and a year to lose effectively all of it. Palladium has a half-life of 17 days. Within two months it has given up 90% of its energy and has lost almost all of it by six months. Again, there are advantages to both isotopes. Palladium gives up its energy quicker but this does not mean that it is necessarily better or stronger. Top of Page How does radiation from seed implantation affect cancer cells? Are there forms of prostate cancer cells that will not be affected by seed implantation radiation? How will the radiation from seed implantation affect healthy cells in the patient’s prostate? Radiation kills cells primarily by affecting a critical target in the cell. This critical target is bel
