Apparatus for storing and ejecting radioactive sources used in radiotherapy
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Medical treatments by curietherapy require radioactive sources whose characteristics depend on the localization and the extent of the zone to be treated. These sources, which are placed in source carriers, are stored in an enclosure provided for this purpose and brought at the moment of treatment into a so-called projection device whereby it is enabling the introduction of these loaded source carriers into tubular applicators placed in the zone to be treated. The storage enclosure is usually placed in a room other than the treatment room, whereas the projection device is disposed next to the patient to be treated, which requires the transportation of this device and special precautions to ensure the safety of the treating staff. 
     In our copending application Ser. No. 788,791, filed concurrently with the present one on Apr. 19, 1977, we have disclosed and claimed details of a radioactive-source carrier guided by a flexible sheath into an applicator designed to contact an anatomical part to be treated. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of our present invention is to provide a radiotherapeutic-treatment apparatus, usable conjointly with such applicators, adapted to store a number of source carriers and also to facilitate the ejection of one or more carriers, simultaneously or consecutively, into associated applicators. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     We realize this object, in accordance with the present invention, by providing a magazine which forms a plurality of storage receptacles and at least one active receptacle each adapted to accommodate one source carrier, the combined number of active and storage receptacles exceeding the number of source carriers to be accommodated. Each active receptacle has two open ends joined via respective conduits to an entrance connector and to an exit connector positioned on the outer surface of a surrounding metallic enclosure. Also disposed on that outer surface are several ancillary connectors, one for each storage receptacle, joined to the associated receptacle by a further conduit. The exit connector of each active receptacle can be engaged by an ejection sheath, leading to a remote applicator, or to a transfer tube also attachable to an ancillary connector whereby a continuous path is formed the entrance connector of an active receptacle and the corresponding exit connector to a selected storage receptacle. With the aid of drive means engageable with a chosen source carrier, including a flexible cable insertable through the corresponding entrance connector, the various source carriers can be selectively and interchangeably fed to any applicator. 
     The several receptacles are, preferably, elongate cavities extending substantially axially within a metallic body of generally cylindrical shape. Advantageously, this body is surrounded by a protective screen or sleeve of a material of high atomic number, such as lead, and further by a mass of neutron-absorbing material filling an annular space between this screen and the metallic enclosure. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other features of our invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying our invention, including a diagrammatic showing of an associated driving mechanism; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 11--11 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view taken on the line 111--111 of FIG. 2; and 
     FIGS. 4-6 are fragmentary axial sectional views showing the apparatus in different phases of operation. 
    
    
     SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
     A radiotherapy device according to the invention comprises, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a metallic enclosure 1, for example of steel, having a cylindrical shape and containing a centrally disposed magazine 2 made, for example of stainless steel. This magazine 2 comprises n receptacles or cavities divided into p &#34;active&#34; cavities A and q &#34;storage&#34; cavities B which will be defined hereinafter. These n cavities (p+q=n) have a cylindrical shape and are disposed parallel to each other. They are adapted to receive (n-1) tubular source carriers S 1 , S 2  . . . which are loaded at one of their ends with a train of unitary radioactive sources. At least one of these n cavities is therefore always empty, which permits the interchange of the sources S 1 , S 2  . . . distributed in the different cavities A and B. 
     In FIG. 3 we have particularly illustrated an &#34;active&#34; cavity A 1  and two &#34;storage&#34; cavities B 1  and B 2 . The open-ended cavity A 1  communicates at one end with a respective conduit 3 terminating at an associated exit connector 4 fixed to a wall of the enclosure 1, and at the other end with a conduit 5 terminating at an entrance connector 6 on an opposite wall of enclosure 1. 
     The &#34;storage&#34; cavities B 1  and B 2  are closed at one of their ends; their opposite ends are respectively joined to two ancillary connectors 7, 8 by conduits 9, 10. The connector 4 can be externally secured either to a sheath 12, which is to be fixed to an applicator placed in the zone to be treated, or to a transfer pipe or tube 11 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     In operation, if it is assumed that the source carrier S 1  is selected for a given treatment, this carrier S 1 , which is placed in the active cavity A 1 , is withdrawn by a driving cable 13, entrained by a pulley 14 via a motor 20, and is projected via sheath 12 into the corresponding applicator. If it is now desired to convey the source carrier S 2  to this same applicator connected to the sheath 12, the replacement of the source carrier S 1  by the carrier S 2  in the active cavity A 1  will be carried out as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. The sheath 12 is replaced at connector 4 by the transfer pipe 11 which is also attached to the connector 7. The source carrier S 1  is then pushed by the driving cable 13 into the cavity B 1 . The cable 13, disconnected from the source carrier S 1 , is thereafter hooked to the source carrier S 2  (the transfer pipe 11 being now joined to the connector 8) for extraction from the cavity B 2  (FIG. 5) and insertion into the cavity A 1 . 
     The transfer pipe 11 engaged by connector 4 is then replaced by the sheath 12 connected to the applicator. The source carrier S 2  can thereafter be projected into this applicator (FIG. 6). 
     As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1, motor 20 is operatively connectable with pulley 14 via a gear transmission 21 and an electromagnetic clutch 22 which is selectively actuatable by a controller 23. The controller may be preprogrammed or remote-operated. A crank 24 can be used for manually rotating the pulley 14 if the electric drive system should fail. 
     A housing 25, forming an extension of enclosure 1, surrounds the pulley 14 as well as guide means 18, 19 for the cable 13 which may be of the &#34;teleflex&#34; type. The engagement of cable 13 with a selected source carrier S 1  or S 2 , for example, is facilitated by a hooked extremity 19 of that carrier. 
     The controller 23 may include a nonillustrated selector switch for choosing the active cavity whose clutch 22 is to be actuated. A nonillustrated safety switch may be actuated by any source carrier upon its proper positioning in the associated applicator. A further safety switch, also not shown, may indicate the return of the previously ejected source carrier to its storage cavity B. 
     Our improved radiotheropeutic apparatus which is both a &#34;storer&#34; and a &#34;projector&#34; of the radioactive sources placed in the carriers S 1 , S 2  . . . , permits the storage of sixteen source carriers, for example, containing in all 25 μg of californium 252. The illustrated embodiment allows the simultaneous or non-simultaneous ejection of six source carriers into their respective applicators. 
     As seen in FIG. 2, a lead screen 15 which surrounds the magazine 2 has a thickness of a few centimeters whereas a protective mass of neutron-absorbing material 16, several tens of centimeters in thickness, fills the steel enclosure 1.