A Cyber-Physical System Approach to Immobilization of Patient on Radiation Treatment

Patients on radiation treatment of the head and neck require an uncomfortable device to limit patient movement to 3mm. We propose a novel cyber-physical system approach with a vision-infrared based motorized positioning system (VIMPS) and soft robotic fingers to both monitor and correct the position of a patient’s head. The proposed system aims to constantly detect the patient’s head position and any movement in real-time while the patient is undergoing radiotherapy. If any positional change greater than 2mm is detected, this system will trigger a pre-set action, such as halting the treatment, thereby allowing corrections to be made before treatment is resumed. The threshold of 2mm is chosen to match existing treatment standards. With a secure network connection and robust control between the VIMPS system, soft robotic manipulators and radiation device, we could realize accurate radiation doses distribution.