Graeme wrote: ↑02 Dec 2022, 14:16
... they tattoo 3 targets on you to use for getting you in the correct position, ... the exact shape, size and position of the prostate in real time. ... the beam shape is adjusted using lead plates as it rotates to exactly match the profile of the prostate from the angle of the X-ray beam.
Thank you Graeme. Most of this I did know from my fMRI brain scans on a study up at York University back in 2017, roughly. I remember having several tattoos on the head so that they could line me up each week
(1). I still have the gif-movies that let me travel across my head in the three dimensions. My head is an egg-shell that contains a cauliflower, complete with stem. I still watch it every now and then, because I enjoy the recursive nature of my brain contemplating itself.
(1) I suspect that they don't try to align my body/head at all. I suspect they use the tattoos to let the fMRI stuff locate me, wherever I happened to shuffle along the gurney; but it amounts to the same thing.
Focusing by lead plates is new to me, but not surprising, really. I, for one, wouldn't touch those beams with a barge-pole.
So so far so good, eh? They sound like a competent bunch. Next time (but we hope NOT) you go in, would you mind asking if, what with all their technical expertise, they have considered opening an
online high-interest bank? Instead of offering a toaster or a boom box, they could offer a free brain scan when you open an account!
I am not going to conduct a poll, but I would be happy with more news about what goes on, as long as you feel up to it.
Thanks again, Chris