Radiation Therapy Planning

After your consultation with one of our Specialist Doctors (Radiation Oncologists) an appointment will be made for you to attend a Radiation Therapy Planning session at our Radiation Oncology Department. The purpose of this appointment is to obtain the information needed to design your radiation treatment.

Arriving for Your Planning Session

When you arrive for your planning appointment please go to the Radiation Oncology reception desk located on the Ground Floor (Zone E/F) in the main hospital building. Free parking is available for patients in the cancer services carpark. (Please note a gate code from our reception is required for entry).

The Receptionist will note your attendance and ask you to complete some forms concerning your general health.

A Radiation Therapist will meet you in the waiting room and explain the planning procedure and any preparation required. This preparation may involve drinking water to fill your bladder, ensuring your bowels are empty or taking a medication.

Sometimes no preparation is necessary; however, this will depend on the part of your body that requires treatment.

Your Radiation Oncologist or a member of their team will also be available to answer any questions you may have.

If you have not already done so, you will be asked to sign a consent form before proceeding to the next step.

Setting Your Treatment Position

An important step in your radiation therapy planning is establishing how your body will be positioned for treatment. This is done by the Radiation Therapists.

Firstly, the Radiation Therapists will take you to the CT Scanning room. They may ask you to remove any items of clothing or jewellery that are in the way of the area to be scanned.

The Radiation Therapists will ask you to lie down on the bed of the CT scanner. They will position you in a comfortable and stable manner that is appropriate for your treatment.

This may require the use of specialised equipment to help keep you still such as a vacuum moulded bean bag, foam cushions, arm supports or a personalised face mask.

The type of equipment used depends on the location of your treatment area. A mask may only be required when radiation therapy is given to the head or neck region.

Scanning Area to be Treated

A specialised CT scan is required to identify and map the part of your body where the radiation therapy needs to be applied.

The Radiation Therapists will measure the region of your body that will be scanned. They may draw marks on your skin with a felt tip pen. These marks do not have to be left on and can be easily washed off after your planning session.

Small stickers will be placed on the skin to provide reference points visible on the CT scans (X-ray pictures). These stickers will be removed after the scan is done.

The Radiation Therapists will then move the bed into the CT scanner (the open ring or “doughnut” that takes the scans).

The CT scanner opening is very wide and not enclosed at the end, so you will not be in a confined space. The radiation therapists may need to physically move your body to make sure that you are level and straight.

Once you are suitably positioned, the Radiation Therapists will move behind a glass screen to start the scanner. You will hear a whirring sound and feel the bed move back and forth during scanning.

Depending on where your treatment area is, the scan may take a few minutes to complete.

Recording Your Treatment Area

After the CT scan is complete a record needs to be made of how you have been positioned and the area where the treatment is going to be applied.

The Radiation Therapists will take photographs of how you are positioned and the area to be treated. These photographs are kept in a confidential location.

They may also place several tiny tattoo dots on your skin. These are very small permanent marks that help locate your planned treatment area.

The tattoos are placed by pricking a small sterile needle into the skin with a drop of ink on the surface.

If you have a personalised mask made for your treatment, no tattoos will be placed on the skin. Instead marks are drawn on your personalised mask.

At the end of the planning session the Therapists will help you to sit up and get dressed. A face photo is then taken to identify you for your radiation treatment. This photo is electronically displayed in your Radiation Oncology patient record.