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Slide show
Slide show: Radiation therapy treatment planning
By Mayo Clinic staff
Immobilizing your body
Before you begin external beam radiation treatment, your radiation therapy team carefully plans your treatment in a process called radiation simulation. Radiation therapy treatment planning usually involves positioning your body, making marks on your skin and taking imaging scans.
Your radiation therapy team determines whether you'll lie on your back, stomach or side during treatment. It's crucial to find a position that optimizes your treatment, but is comfortable enough to hold for 15 to 30 minutes.
A variety of immobilizers may be used to ensure you'll be in the same position for each radiation therapy treatment. Here, a special cushion-like device that holds its shape is used.
Next slide- Radiation therapy and you: Support for people with cancer. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/radiation-therapy-and-you. Accessed Dec. 6, 2011.
- Understanding radiation therapy: A guide for patients and families. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_7x_external_radiation_therapy.asp. Accessed Dec. 6, 2011.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. An introduction to radiation simulation and treatment. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2004.
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