Deep Inspiration Breath Hold

Minimizing Radiation Dose

Deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) is an effective technique for minimizing radiation dose to a patient’s heart during treatment delivery. Radiotherapy treatment using DIBH for left-sided breast cancer allows a patient to fill their lungs with air and move theirheart away from their chest in order to separate the organ from the target and reduce cardiac dose. Several studies have investigated DIBH versus free breathing (FB) in the treatment of left-sided breast cancer. With DIBH, the mean dose to the heart was reduced by 31 to 63%.