An Invisible Skin Marker for External Beam Radiation Therapy: Utilization of Ultraviolet Fluorescent Marker Pens

Abstract

Radiation therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment along with surgery and systemic therapy. The total dose of radiation therapy is divided into small doses, and the treatment is typically delivered once a day. The total treatment period can need several weeks or more, and it is necessary to deliver the radiation dose to the target volume within the patient precisely each time. Therefore, the reproducibility of patient positioning is essential for the precision of the dose delivery. Although radiological technologies such as image-guided radiation therapy have also recently been widely used for positioning patients, skin marking is still widely used in many facilities. Skin marking is an inexpensive and universal positioning technique in patients undergoing radiation therapy; however, it is considered a major source of psychological stress. We propose the use of fluorescent ink pens, which are invisible in standard room lighting, as skin markers for radiotherapy. The primary technique of fluorescence emission is widely employed in molecular biological experiments and for assessing cleaning protocols for infection control. This technique may reduce the stress induced by skin markings during radiotherapy.

Intrafractional Diaphragm Variations During Breath-Hold Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for a Liver Tumor Based on Real-Time Registration Between Kilovoltage Projection Streaming and Digitally Reconstructed Radiograph Images: A Case Report

“…In liver SBRT, image guidance plays a pivotal role and is considered the cornerstone of this treatment modality [4]. The breath-hold technique significantly reduces radiation exposure to the bowel and normal liver tissues compared to the free-breathing method [5]. The precision and effectiveness of SBRT in liver cancer treatment rely heavily on the accuracy of image guidance techniques.…”