Motion Capture Pillow for Head-and-Neck Cancer Radiotherapy Treatment

An estimated 6 million patients are treated for cancer each year using radiotherapy, an effective treatment that results in 40% of patients being cured [3]. In head and neck radiotherapy, patient positioning and immobilisation is a crucial part of accurate therapy delivery. A full head and shoulder thermoplastic mask is normally used to restrain the patient which brings discomfort and cannot adapt to patient's shape changes when losing weight. In this paper, we present a soft, pillow-shaped sensor capable of capturing head motion of the patient during radiotherapy. This motion capturing pillow (MCP) is the first step in creating a soft robotic device capable of sensing and re-positioning the head and neck during radiotherapy treatment. MCP performance in terms of repeatability and hysteresis has been tested with a 3D printed head and an ABB robot simulating the human head movements in 3 degrees of freedom.