Deep inspiration breath hold minimizes the risk of radiation therapy.

Deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) is a specialized radiation therapy technique in which patients take a deep breath to a precise level, then hold this breath while the radiation is delivered. Doing this helps us deliver radiation therapy more safely to tumors near organs that move with breathing, such as the breast, lung, liver and pancreas.

Proven to reduce irradiation of the heart in breast cancer treatment.

DIBH is most commonly used for treatment of women with left-sided breast cancer. By taking a deep breath in, your lungs fill with air and your heart narrows and will move down and away from your chest. This has been proven to significantly lower the radiation dose to the heart, making the treatment safer.

Minimizing motion to protect normal surrounding organs.

For patients with tumors in the lung, liver, or pancreas, DIBH can help to minimize the motion of the tumor. This allows for better targeting of the tumor while protecting the normal healthy organs.

DIBH: What to expect.

Your Princeton Radiation Oncology therapy team will coach you to hold your breath for up to 20 seconds at a time. The radiation beam will only turn on when you have taken a deep breath in.  You will do this several times during each radiation treatment.

At Princeton Radiation Oncology, we’re proud to offer this treatment at our radiation oncology center in Monroe Township, NJ and at most of our satellite locations.

If you’d like to know more about the deep inspiration breath hold technique, or to schedule an initial consultation, call 609-655-5755. You can also reach us via our easy online form.