A real-time, soft robotic patient positioning system for maskless head-and-neck cancer radiotherapy: An initial investigation

We present an initial examination of a novel approach to accurately position a patient during head and neck intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Position-based visual-servoing of a radio-transparent soft robot is used to control the flexion/extension cranial motion of a manikin head. A Kinect RGB-D camera is used to measure head position and the error between the sensed and desired position is used to control a pneumatic system which regulates pressure within an inflatable air bladder (IAB). Results show that the system is capable of controlling head motion to within 2mm with respect to a reference trajectory. This establishes proof-of-concept that using multiple IABs and actuators can improve cancer treatment.