In-house auto cutoff sensor device for radiotherapy machine to monitor patient movements

Abstract

Abstract:  Radiation treatment is one of the most effective treatment for cancer. During radiation treatment, patient’s position is very important. Where-of, the patient must be in the same position from starting to the end of radiation treatment. The patient movements are monitored by the radiation technologist through CCTV during treatment. If the patient makes a small movement, it can not be monitored by them. Turning off machine’s power supply usually requires a longer time to get the machine break on. A control that can only stop the radiation but put back the machine in a standby mode might be more desirable. In the present work, a simple patient movement monitoring device (PMMD) is fabricated indigenously to monitor the patient movement. It works under an electronic sensing device. It continuously monitors the patient’s position while the radiation treatment is in process. The device has been retrospectively tested on 86 patients whose movement and distance were measured. The results show that 24 patients were moved 1 to 2.5 cm distance from their position during the External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT). Hence, the device can be potentially used to control and monitor patient movement during EBRT. In addition to that audible alarm is also provided with this device, which is situated at the control panel of the treatment room. So as to alert the radiation technologist. It is a low cost compact device which can be used in any radiotherapy machine. It also saves the patient’s normal tissue irradiation from radiation and improves the quality of the radiation treatment.

PACS Number: 87.53Dq.