Radiography

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A study of the effect on accuracy of the introduction of a bellyboard as an immobilisation device to the radical radiotherapy treatment of prostate cancer patients
(2012-09) McIlwraith, K. A.; Blyth, Christine
Ensuring reproducibility in any radiotherapy technique is vital to ensure that a geometric miss does not occur. Patient position and comfort play a major part in the reproducibility of setups. Purpose: To study the effect on accuracy of the introduction of a bellyboard to the existing prone technique used for radical radiotherapy treatment of prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients were treated using the bellyboard in the standard method. Portal images were compared with those of a control group of patients who had treatment with no rigid immobilisation. Patients in both groups were males with prostate cancer, who underwent radical radiotherapy treatment. Images were analysed using anatomy matching, and deviations from the isocentre were noted. Results: Statistical analysis of the results showed no statistical significance between the groups, though within the control group there were more deviations over 0.5 cm from the isocentre position than in the bellyboard group. Conclusions: Introduction of the bellyboard was seen to be equivalent to the use of the control technique. When the deviations from isocentre position were evaluated for each group, the control group had more deviations over 0.5 cm than the bellyboard group. 2011 Cambridge University Press.
Assessment of set-up discrepancies using daily portal imaging during radiotherapy treatment for patients with spine and bone metastases
(Cambridge Journals, 2012-12) Young, L.; Blyth, Christine
It is well established that patients with bone metastases get good pain relief from radiotherapy. The aim of treatment is to achieve maximum pain relief with minimum morbidity. Accuracy and reproducibility of the patient's position are fundamental to the successful delivery of radiation therapy. It has been recognised for many years, that the accuracy of patient positioning will improve the success of radiation treatment. A previous study carried out in the department showed that the use of only a single tattoo for the set-up of palliative patients resulted in poor accuracy. The aim of this study was to assess if the addition of extra skin marks improved the set-up accuracy of palliative patients being treated for spine and bone metastases. A protocol was implemented detailing the extra skin marks to be used. Daily portal images were acquired and analysed retrospectively using anatomy matching. The results obtained were then compared with those of the previous study. The use of extra skin marks resulted in a total of 45% of images within 5 mm tolerance compared with 36% of images in patients treated with a single centre tattoo. Also, the number of images with deviations greater than 15 mm was reduced by more than 50% with the addition of extra skin marks. This study has shown that extra skin marks do increase the set-up accuracy in palliative patients treated for spine and bone metastases. Therefore, the practice of using extra skin marks has become standard protocol for all palliative patients within the department.
Covert observation to find if patient hospital clothing saves radiotherapy treatment room time, and the issue of a questionnaire to find if this is detrimental to patients' experience of radiotherapy
(Cambridge Journals, 2013-12) Farnan, M.; Blyth, Christine
Background Radiotherapy departments are having to work more efficiently to cope with increasing demand for radiotherapy resources. Radiotherapy treatment room efficiency may be increased by the introduction of hospital clothing as this negates the need for patient changing in the treatment room. However, studies have shown that hospital clothing can have a negative effect on patient dignity. It is therefore important to balance potential time saving with any detriment to patients. Purpose This study examined the effect that hospital clothing had on the time patients spend in the treatment room and aimed to identify patients' opinions of the clothing. Materials and methods Potential time saving was determined by covertly timing patients currently undergoing radiotherapy treatment as they entered and exited the treatment room. A total of 348 patients were timed in their own clothing and 341 were timed when they wore hospital clothing. The timings of these two groups were compared to determine whether hospital clothing saved treatment unit time. Patient opinions of the clothing were examined by issuing a short questionnaire, designed to gather ordinal data, at the end of their course of treatment. Questionnaires were issued only to patients who had worn hospital clothing in the radiotherapy department. Results Introducing hospital clothing saved a significant amount of treatment room time and patients were generally positive about wearing the clothing. Conclusion It is suggested that hospital clothing is a welcome addition to the radiotherapy department to increase efficiency without detriment to patients. Copyright Cambridge University Press 2013.