Recycling of 3D-printed plastic accessories used in radiation oncology

Radiotherapy is a recognized method in the fight against cancer. In some cases, it is preferable to use a customized accessory called a "bolus", a layer of material placed on the patient's skin to increase the dose of radiation deposited on the skin's surface. At the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montréal, boluses are currently manufactured by 3D printing using polylactic acid (PLA), a thermoplastic polymer. As each bolus is tailor-made for a specific patient, it is impossible to reuse it once the patient's treatment is complete, which generates a significant amount of plastic waste. It would therefore be interesting to know whether the PLA used for this application can be recycled and reprinted to create new boluses for other patients. This would maintain good treatment performance while seeking to integrate circular economy concepts.