Customizable fixture for patient positioning

Abstract

A customized positioning fixture is fabricated specifically for a patient the purpose of positioning a portion, or all, of the patient's body relative to a medical apparatus. The customized positioning fixture is fabricated such that the relative position of the patent to the medical apparatus is predetermined before a procedure is performed on the patient using the apparatus. The positioning fixture is fabricated using a computer-aided or an automated computer-controlled process according to data determined for that patient, for example, using a rapid prototyping and tooling (RPT) technique. In some embodiments, the positioning fixture is designed to be repeatedly removed and reattached to the patient, thereby allowing the patient to be repeatedly precisely re-positioned in the medical device is separated sessions. A second positioning fixture can also be fabricated so that the patient can be positioned relative to a second apparatus in a way that the patient's position in the two different apparatuses is related in a desired manner.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.