[First experiences with a noninvasive patient set-up system for radiotherapy of the prostate].

Purpose: Highly conformal radiotherapy techniques require precise patient positioning. We report our first experience with a new cast system for fixation of the pelvis during stereotactically guided intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) of the prostate with respect to positioning accuracy of the prostate.

Material And Methods: The immobilization device consists of a custom-made wrap-around body cast that extends from the abdomen to the thighs and a separate head mask, both made from Scotchcast, and attaches to a frame for extracranial stereotaxy.

An integrated head-holder/coil for intraoperative MRI in open neurosurgery.

With the invention of "open" magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, access to the patient is possible during the imaging procedure. An important application of these systems is intraoperative MRI to control the extent of resection during tumor surgery. Up to now flexible surface coils wrapped around, or placed at each side of the head, were used for imaging.

Noninvasive patient fixation for extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the setup accuracy that can be achieved with a novel noninvasive patient fixation technique based on a body cast attached to a recently developed stereotactic body frame during fractionated extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy.

Methods And Materials: Thirty-one CT studies (> or = 20 slices, thickness: 3 mm) from 5 patients who were immobilized in a body cast attached to a stereotactic body frame for treatment of paramedullary tumors in the thoracic or lumbar spine were evaluated with respect to setup accuracy. The immobilization device consisted of a custom-made wrap-around body cast that extended from the neck to the thighs and a separate head mask, both made from Scotchcast.

Modified Headholder and operating table for intra-operative MRI in neurosurgery.

In order to facilitate intra-operative use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in neurosurgery an MRI-compatible headholder was developed and adapted to a modified MR-couch simultaneously serving as tabletop for the operating table. To allow shock-free transport into the scanner the wheels of the operating table were replaced by an air cushion mechanism. In 75 procedures the system proved to be reliable and safe.

[Stereotactic conforming irradiation of choroid metastases].

Unlabelled: The aim of our study was to develop noninvasive stereotactic radiotherapy for patients with choroidal metastases.

Methods: The head of the patient was immobilized by an individual cast mask. The target volume and adjacent critical structures were three-dimensionally segmented based on ophthalmological findings and MRI.