Скачать или смотреть radiation masks part 2: how and why it's made

I’ve been using radiation masks for 8 years, and I still had no idea how tight one was until now. 🤯 CQ Medical, whose masks we’ve been using at USC for years, gave me this mask so that I could understand better as a radiation oncologist what our patients with head and neck cancers such as throat cancer, mouth cancer, or lymphoma go through. 🎗️

Since this is the scariest part of radiation treatment for so many patients, I also go through in more detail in today’s video the specific steps to the appointment in which your mask is made.

​CT SIMULATION: Mask Creation & Mapping 🗺️

​Step 0: Pre-Medication 💊
If you have a history of claustrophobia, I will prescribe Ativan to take by mouth before your appointment, provided you have a driver to and from the clinic.

​Step 1: Prep 💇
We protect your hair with a shower cap to prevent the melted plastic of the mask from sticking to it. I’m not okay with our mask taking extra hair from you.

​Step 2: Heating 🔥
The mask is placed in a dry chamber to become flexible and soft. We prefer this to a water bath to keep water off your face.
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Step 3: Test ✋
The therapist removes the mask, checks the feel and temperature, and confirms it's not too hot for your skin.

​Step 4: Molding 👤
The mask is pulled over your face, conforming to your unique anatomy.

​Step 5: Cooling & Marks ⏱️
The mask stays on until it cools (about 7 minutes). During this time, the CT table moves you in and out of the machine. Your radiation therapist places marks on the mask as soon as the radiation oncologist has approved the CT images.

​Step 6: Planning 💻
You go home. Your oncologist spends hours drawing on the CT to map out the cancer and the surrounding critical organs. The mask allows the safety margin around the tumor to be only a few millimeters (about an eighth of an inch). This precision 🎯 is vital: it focuses the high dose on your cancer and minimizes it in healthy organs.


Step 7: TREATMENT (often 33–35 for head/neck cancers)
You return for daily treatments, Monday through Friday, 15 minutes each time. The mask is tight! But it's your armor to protect yourself from worsened long-term toxicities.
#radiationoncology #radiationtherapy