Alpha CradleŽ brand products are unique Patient Immobilization Devices, because they are customized REPOSITIONING devices designed for radiation therapy. You create a customized mold of your patient in the desired set up position that is used throughout the course of treatment. Extended forms have been developed to maximize comfort and security for IMRT patients. Alpha CradleŽ brand devices are also designed for CT, MRI, PET, 3DCRT.
Alpha CradleŽ brand products have been recognized and proven to help reduce collateral damage, improve accuracy, increase patient comfort, all contributing to increased lethality to the tumor, indirectly increasing survival rates.
The patented Alpha Cradle Mold Maker II provides the ultimate tool, fabricating customized repositioning forms.
The ACMMII allows you to create a customized mold on any anatomical site, for adult and pediatric patients.
These molds can be further customized by using a serrated blade to cut desired ports. The board has been designed with bevelled edges for patient comfort, and an easy-to-carry handle built into the top. A large assortment of easy-to-use dividers allows maximum flexibility in creating tight fitting molds. Lay the patient on top of the foam-filled bag in the desired treatment position and using the dividers, place the rising soft foam firmly against the patient.
In 15 minutes you'll have a truly customized mold of your patient formed in the correct set-up position.
Alpha Cradle® brand Patient Repositioning Systems are complete, individual kits, including everything necessary to fabricate a customized repositioning and immobilization form.
The first part of the kit is the anatomical form. Each anatomical form is made up of an extruded polystyrene base with an expanded polystyrene shell carefully attached to the base. The forms are shipped with the center cutout piece included to give the form stability during shipping, reducing the chances for damage to the forms.
The second part of the kit consists of the set of foaming agents needed to customize the anatomical cutout to your patient. Each set of foaming agents produces a warm expanding foam that fills the area between the form and the patient.
More than forty different anatomical kits are available including head forms, lateral head forms, upper and lower extremity forms and everything in between. Anatomical molds are available for left and right sides, arms up or arms down. Once the forms are completed, you have a dramatic tool enhancing proper alignment, repositioning and immobilization of your patient. The completed forms can be marked or indexed in two different ways. First, the molds can be indexed to the table in relationship to the sagittal and lateral alignment lasers.
Second, the molds can be indexed with skin marks on the patient, easily realigning large flabby areas of skin.
The forms allow you to increase the patient's comfort during this stressful time in their life. These tested forms have successfully been used since 1980, in more than 1600 medical centers across 30 countries around the world. SMP's Alpha Cradle brand products have been included in medical encyclopedias, several medical textbooks, with articles referring to Alpha Cradle brand products appearing in different medical journals around the world.
SMP's Alpha Cradle® brand products have been recognized and proven to help reduce collateral damage, improve accuracy, increase patient comfort, all contributing to increased lethality to the tumor, indirectly increasing survival rates.
Alpha Cradle® brand products have been included in national protocols by leading hospitals and medical centers across the United States.
Two different standard forms are offered for treatment of the prostate, and other pelvic malignancies.
Our first form, the Pelvic Form, was developed for treatment in the supine position. Pieces of the form come unattached, allowing customization to the width of the patient. A triangular insert helps foam form leg separation. (The Pelvic Form Modified was developed for superior treatment in the supine position. See extended forms for more information on this form.)
The second part of the kit consists of the set of foaming agents needed to customize the anatomical cutout to your patient. Each set of foaming agents produces a warm expanding foam that fills the area between the form and the patient.
Our second standard form, the Belly Board, was developed for treatment in the prone position and comes with small inserts that prop-up the pubic bone, allowing the patient's belly to drop, reducing the amount of bowel in the treatment field.
SMP offers two forms to immobilize the patient's head.
The HF, head form, allows the patient's head to be immobilized in the supine position. An assortment of wedges are included allowing the head to be placed in the full chin-tuck position or chin fully-extended. The form allows the patient to be immobilized from the top of the head to the patient's shoulders.
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Head Form
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Lateral Head Form
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The LHF, lateral head form, allows the patient to lay on their left or right side. The completed form controls the rotation the head and flexion of the chin in the lateral or lateral decubitus position. By carefully holding the side of the patient's face into the rising foam, a very carefully formed outline of the patient's facial features are created in the foam. This form works best when used with P-180 sheeting material for superior detail.
Head & Shoulder forms are used to immobilize the thorax, head and arms. The HS1 has no arm hole cut allowing them to be cut up or down as needed. HS2 forms have both the arms cut up 45°, while the HS3 has the arms cut down 45°.
These simplified forms immobilize the thorax region allowing exact repositioning by indexing the forms with lasers to your table. Forms are available with no armholes cut, AT1, both arms cut up 45°, or both arms cut down 45°.
The CNS forms are patented designs that immobilize your patient from head to the hips. Each form is made by hand to provide maximum security and safety for the patient. The CNS form allows a pillow of foam to form around the patient's face, while its unique design allows ample room for breathing. Soft foam forms around the patient's frontal bone, zygomatic bone and mandible. The foam extends along the patient's shoulders, sides and arms, down to the patient's hips.
SMP offers special forms immobilizing the patient's hand, upper and lower extremity. The extremity forms control rotation and flexion of the anatomy.
Upper extremity forms immobilize from the fingertips to the upper arm, while the lower forms immobilize from the bottom of the foot to the upper thigh.
Hand forms provide immobilization and separation of the fingers. Forms can be made from the fingertips to the forearm.
The Mav form was designed for maximum utility and convenience. The form molds from the top of the patient's head, down to the hips. With this versatile form, the patient can be treated flat or on a 15 degree wedged insert, that becomes part of the form when used. Allowing you to place the patient's arms from 60 degrees up to 60 degrees down, this design offers 120 degrees of maximum flexibility for each arm.
This form was designed to replace the following forms:
BF2R, BF2L, BF4R, BF4L, HS2, HS2M
The Mav form offers the same benefits of the aforementioned forms, without having to keep each different form in stock, worrying whether you have enough left forms or right forms available. This can reduce your space needed to store the various different forms. Each Mav form includes one set of AC325 and a special polybag for exact duplication of the set-up position.
The Bravelle, a single breast immobilization system for patients with large, flaccid breasts is made up of a comfortable ring supported by an adjustable chest and shoulder strap. When used in conjunction with Alpha Cradle® brand Advanced Repositioning Systems, it offers maximum repositioning efficiency, for pinpoint accuracy and patient comfort. The Bravelle™ straps are soft loop material allowing the straps to be adjusted as needed. The device may help reduce the amount of lung in the treatment field when used successfully.
The Bravelle™ is used most successfully when it is used with the patented, extended, Alpha Cradle® brand advanced repositioning systems. These superior forms, when used with the Bravelle™, immobilize the flaccid breast, head, arms, torso, hips, and lower extremity. This is the most advanced treatment technique for IMRT and 3DCRT.
The Bravelle™ can incorporate pieces of styrofoam between the breast and the breast ring to hold the breast from rolling to the side. Marks can be placed showing where the foam, ring, and breast touch to facilitate quick reproduction of the set-up. |
 Bravelle shown with elliptical piece of styrofoam added to hold breast in position. |
These foaming agents were specifically designed for use with the ACMMII, our second generation Alpha Cradle® Mold Maker. Each set of foam sized AC 325 or smaller, is sealed in a plastic bag containing a polyform bag, one bottle of polyol, and a bottle of papi. Each bottle of AC 500 and AC 660 is individually sealed in a plastic bag. Today, foaming agents are available in more than 14 different sizes. Customized sizes of foam are available upon request.
| The most popular size of foaming agents remains the AC 325 set. It has been designed to allow you to create a form on most adult patient sites. | AC 325
 (MEDIUM) |
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| This size of foam provides the needed amount of foam to immobilize the head or head & neck area without the forms pillowing from the use of too much foam. This size foam can also be used to immobilize a pediatric thorax region. | AC 250
 (SMALL) |
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| These foaming agents were originally designed for use with our patented extended forms. The AC 660 contains twice the amount of foam as the AC325, while the AC500 contains 50% more foam than the AC325. | AC 500
 (LARGE) |
AC 660
 (EXTRA LARGE) |
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Alpha CradleŽ is a registered
trademark of Smithers Medical Products,
Inc.
Our unique Alpha Cradle brand of products create a customized anatomical mold of your patient in the desired set-up position. These devices comfortably secure your patient, reducing blurring and movement of the patient, while helping to increase accuracy. Forms may be used for CT, MRI, PET, IMRT, 3DRCT, or other diagnostic procedure that requires patient security, immobilization and comfort. A proprietary binary foam is used which creates an exothermic reaction that results in the creation and expansion of foam. As the foam rises and expands, it feels comfortably warm to the patient. After the foam expands, it begins to harden, having a mass consistent with dried toast. The mold is radiolucent, allowing port films to be shot with the patient in the form. The final product is an anatomical form that duplicates the exact shape of the external anatomy of the patient in the desired set-up position. Insist on Alpha Cradle brand products from Smithers Medical Products to be assured you are using products that have been tested for attenuation, hyperthermia, and toxicology. |
Foam Designed with Maximum Concern for the Environment |
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What is an Alpha Cradle?
Our proprietary foam was specifically developed for the creation of anatomical molds for radiation therapy. Toxicology information is available for our proven and reliable foam. Attenuation data has been published in a leading medical journal documenting beam attenuation, skin-sparring and hyperthermia when using this product. Our unique formula does not contain chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs, nor TDI. We have designed the foam with maximum concern for your safety as well as that of the environment. Just as beams of radiation are different (gamma rays, mega-voltage electron beams, proton beams, and neutron beams), all foam formulations are different. They have different characteristics and chemical make ups. The only way to be sure a foam product is safe is to review the toxicology information provided on that foam product as well as the published attenuation and skin-sparring data. Insist on Alpha Cradle brand foam and guarantee your patients and staff are using the safest products on the market. |