A Real-Time Soft Robotic Patient Positioning System for Maskless Head-and-Neck Cancer Radiotherapy: An Initial Investigation
This addresses the need for precise patient positioning in radiotherapy to improve cancer treatment outcomes, though it is an initial proof-of-concept study.
The paper tackled the problem of accurately positioning a patient during head-and-neck cancer radiotherapy by developing a soft robotic system using visual-servoing and pneumatic control, achieving head motion control within 2mm of a reference trajectory.
We present an initial examination of a novel approach to accurately position a patient during head and neck intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Position-based visual-servoing of a radio-transparent soft robot is used to control the flexion/extension cranial motion of a manikin head. A Kinect RGB-D camera is used to measure head position and the error between the sensed and desired position is used to control a pneumatic system which regulates pressure within an inflatable air bladder (IAB). Results show that the system is capable of controlling head motion to within 2mm with respect to a reference trajectory. This establishes proof-of-concept that using multiple IABs and actuators can improve cancer treatment.