Journal article

Development of a patient-specific immobilisation facemask for radiation therapy using additive manufacturing, pressure sensors and topology optimisation

A Asfia, JI Novak, B Rolfe, T Kron

Rapid Prototyping Journal | Published : 2022

Abstract

Purpose: Radiotherapy relies on the delivery of radiation to cancer cells with millimetre accuracy, and immobilisation of patients is essential to minimise unwanted damage to surrounding healthy cells due to patient movement. Traditional thermoformed face masks can be uncomfortable and stressful for patients and may not be accurately fitted. The purpose of this study was to use 3D scanning and additive manufacturing to digitise this workflow and improve patient comfort and treatment outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The head of a volunteer was scanned using an Artec Leo optical scanner (Artec, Luxembourg) and ANSYS (Ansys, Canonsburg, USA) software was used to make two 3D models of the ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Additive Bio-manufacturing (IC160100026) http://www.additivebiomanufacturing.org.In addition, the authors acknowledge the support of the Gross foundation. Moreover, the authors acknowledge the technical support of Amir Taghvaie, the PhD student at Deakin University and Basaula Deepak, the medical physics specialist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Funding sources have not contributed to the study design of this research or other aspects of this work. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.