Design of Custom, 3D Printed Surface Brachytherapy Applicators

Superficial photon or electron beams are typically used when treating skin cancer with radiation therapy. Treatment with these modalities is most consistent when the patient contour is normal to the treatment beam. If the treatment area is large or there is more than one lesion, multiple fields may be required to obtain adequate target coverage. Planning and treating many targets on a patient’s sloping body contour can be particularly problematic. Additionally, the treatment of patients over several fractions creates another layer of complexity.

The purpose of this work is to design and fabricate patient-specific, HDR surface brachytherapy applicators for the treatment of multiple complex targets with a simple daily set up.