The purpose of the belly board is to keep the intestines of the patient out of the radiation fields for treating malignancies in the pelvis area. The opening in the cushion is meant to accommodate the belly of the patient and thereby effectively separate the small bowels from the area to be treated.
The opening in the belly board can be fitted with three sizes of belly inserts for different sized patients. These inserts are made of a soft foam to increase comfort in the rib cage area.
Lateral inserts in the cushions allow the positioning of large patients.
The head part of the cushion is designed to drop the shoulders of the patient and reduce stress. The hands of the patient are placed under the base plate with the use of 2 hand grips.
Pelvicast thermoplastic masks are used to reduce the cranial-caudal and rotational movements of the patients. A specially designed Leg Separator can be inserted after the patient has mounted the cushion, to fix a 6-points Pelvicast mask. This type of mask will further increase the reproducibility and precision of the treatment.
The head can be positioned by means of two types of head supports:
A soft head support in the form of a ring that allows for a comfortable positioning of the head in prone position or sideways.
A support that fixes the head rigidly in prone position. This support can be adjusted to fit the anatomy of the patient’s face and allows the use of Efficast masks for increased precision.
