Bolus is a simple, yet important technology used in radiation therapy. The most basic function of bolus material is to shape the dose distribution in a desired way. This generally falls into two categories: compensating for "missing" tissue and enhancing the build-up effect of MeV energy photon beams.
The bolus itself can be made of a huge variety of materials depending on the application. Below are some materials used as bolus, all of which are applied directly to the skin surface.
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| "Superflab" vinyl plastic bolus in 5mm and 3mm thicknesses. |
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| Edge view of Superflab sheets. |
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| Wet towels can provide bolus with tissue like properties. |
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| Petroleum jelly infused gauze pads are sometimes used as bolus used over open wounds. |
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| Brass chainmail bolus for photons. The bolus of choice for C-3PO and Michael Jackson. |
What's the strangest material you've seen used as bolus?
Do you have a link for the C-3PO bolus? That would have been perfect for a recent setup at my center.
ReplyDeleteThe sample I have is from Rad Care Products, item # R11 - 716.
Deletehttp://radcare.net/17701/18301.html
You can see some pics of this in action on these patient blogs:
http://myfightagainstpink.blogspot.com/2010/07/brass-bolus-funky-bolus.html
http://coffeejitters.net/blog/2011/02/walkthrough-of-radiation-treatment-for-a-cancer-patient/
This document found on MedPhysFiles discusses using brass chain mail bolus. It looks like they got theirs from a metal mesh company (i.e. not a medical supply company). Don't tell the FDA!
Deletehttp://www.medphysfiles.com/index.php?name=Downloads&get=62
How do you have control over density while using wet towel as a bolus? Even if you fix the amount of water used to wet the towel, i think its still not possible to have uniform density. Thanks for the topic.
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