Evaluation of performance of portable respiratory monitoring system based on micro-electro-mechanical-system for respiratory gated radiotherapy

In respiratory-gated radiotherapy of patients with lung or liver cancer, the patient's respiratory pattern and repeatability are important factors affecting therapy accuracy; it has been reported that these factors can be controlled if patients undergo respiration training. As such, this study evaluates the feasibility of micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) in radiotherapy by investigating the effect of radiation on a miniature portable respiratory monitoring system based on the MEMS system, which is currently under development. Using a patient respiration simulation phantom, the time-acceleration graph measured by a normal sensor according to the phantom's respiratory movement before irradiation and the change in this graph with accumulated dose were compared using the baseline slope and the change in amplitude and period of the sine wave. The results showed that with a 400Gy accumulated dose in the sensor, a baseline shift occurred and both the amplitude and period changed. As a result, if the MEMS is applied in respiratory-gated radiotherapy, the sensor should be replaced after use with roughly 6-10 patients so as to ensure continued therapy accuracy, based on the characteristics of the sensor itself. In the future, a more diverse range of sensors should be similarly evaluated.