Auxiliary device for exact fixation of the head and cervical region in telecobalt therapy

With the use of computers in radiotherapy planning an exact dose distribution is achieved. This calculated dose distribution in the target volume and in the adjacent area, however, can only be realized according to planning if the tumorous area is exactly localized and the patient is correctly positioned. For the position of the head and cervical region special wooden supports are described which prevent a movement of the head during irradiation and make possible a defined overstretching of the cervical spine. By means of two examples it is shown how the dose in the area of critical organs can be changed by already small deviations from the determined position. (author)