Comparison of plastic and Orfit® masks for patient head fixation during radiotherapy: Precision and costs

Geometrical uncertainty margins in 3D conformal radiotherapy in the pediatric age group

“…Weltens et al performed a setup study on 43 head and neck patients positioned in either PVC or thermoplastic masks. Independently from fixation device, they found that SD of random errors was 2.1 mm in both longitudinal and vertical directions [18]. In their presentation, the SD of systematic errors in the three set-up directions cannot be uniquely distinguished.…”

Impact of microscopic disease extension, extra-CTV tumour islets, incidental dose and dose conformity on tumour control probability

“…Boosting the GTV where possible is commonly used to improve local control; however the impact of boosting the GTV alone is outside the scope of this study. Other major sources of uncertainties in radiotherapy include setup errors [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and organ motion [13,[19][20][21][22]. Several studies have shown that setup errors can be reduced by using improved immobilization techniques and setup protocols [12][13][14][19][20][21][22].…”

Randomized trial on two types of thermoplastic masks for patient immobilization during radiation therapy for head-and-neck cancer

“…Many immobilization systems are commercially available, and several clinical evaluations have been performed (4,6,7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). These studies have documented the frequency of physician-requested treatment changes (6) or the reproducibility of the fixation of the patient's head within the mask, as measured by deviations on the port films (4,7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17).…”

“…These studies have documented the frequency of physician-requested treatment changes (6) or the reproducibility of the fixation of the patient's head within the mask, as measured by deviations on the port films (4,7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17).…”