Preliminary study of potential for rapid prototype and surface scanned radiotherapy facemask production technique

Abstract

Preliminary investigations into the potential of an elegant technique to create a rudimentary facemask for patient immobilization during radiotherapy treatment are presented. This method combines modern technology to cause the patient far less discomfort compared with current plaster of Paris (POP) face mould procedures. Near instantaneous patient face scanning is accomplished with charge-coupled devices for imaging in an optical surface scanning system. The surface generated data is input to a rapid prototype (RP) system that creates a life-size model of the patient's face topology. As proof of principle a basic prototype facemask was successfully constructed using this technique and some qualitative comparison measurements for position and surface dose were made. These initial results confirm the validity of this technique and justify the need for further quantitative studies to fully investigate the potential of RP facemasks over POP based methods for mask production.