Non-contact monitoring for breath holding radiotherapy v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility study of the Monitoring of Breath Hold in Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer using Kinect for Windows
IRAS ID
166649
Contact name
Anna Kirby
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Radiotherapy for breast cancer is very successful, hence it is essential to ensure all long-term side effects are reduced. One possible side effect is heart damage. We completed a study (HeartSpare) which showed that voluntary deep breaths held for up to 20s are efficient and effective in reducing the amount of radiation received by the heart during radiotherapy for breast cancer.
Monitoring of the breath holds was designed to be straightforward and cost effective by using equipment available in the radiotherapy treatment room such the field light indication and/or the lasers used to aid patient set up. More complex approaches to delivering radiotherapy are likely to become standard treatments for selected groups of patients. An example is where the treatment machine gantry moves around the patient whilst the radiation is being delivered. The lasers and light fields might be blocked from view which may inhibit the visual monitoring of the voluntary breath hold. A solution for this is required.
We propose the use of a simple, low cost, non-contact monitoring method to overcome this problem. The device tested is Kinect for Windows most commonly used in gaming to track movement. It is this ability to follow movement which we will use for this radiotherapy application.
The feasibility of the approach will be tested by collecting sets of data with Kinect for Windows whilst patient volunteers hold their breath whilst in the position for treatment in a radiotherapy treatment room. The treatment unit will be moved around the patient volunteer as if for treatment but it will not be switched into treatment mode.
The number of times the sets of data are collected successfully compared to the expected number will be calculated as a percentage. This percentage will be used to decide whether the method is feasible.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0176
Date of REC Opinion
24 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion