Advances in Patient Immobilisation and Positioning Techniques

Radiation therapy is in the process of a continuos change. This movement has mainly been driven by the rapid and exciting achievements in computer technology, which led to the development of three dimensional radiation treatment planning and to completely new treatment delivery systems. As a result, real 3D conformal therapy is now becoming reality in clinical practice. Being able to plan and deliver conformal dose distributions with steep dose gradients, we have now especially to worry about the errors and uncertainties which arise when transferring treatment plans to the real patient. The involved task of patient immobilisation and positioning is still a weak link in the chain of radiotherapy and needs further improvement in order to meet the high requirements of 3D conformal radiotherapy. In this contribution, developments and experiences in patient immobilisation and positioning at the DKFZ will be reported.