A novel ytterbium-169 brachytherapy source and delivery system for use in conjunction with minimally invasive wedge resection of early-stage lung cancer

We have developed a 169Yb brachytherapy source-delivery system that can be used in conjunction with commercially available surgical stapling instruments, facilitates the precise placement of brachytherapy sources relative to the surgical margin, assures the seeds remain fixed in their precise position for the duration of the treatment, overcomes the technical difficulties of manipulating the seeds through the narrow surgical incision associated with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and reduces the radiation dose to the clinicians.