A chief radiation therapist recently stopped by the Beekley Medical booth at AAMD with a very specific reason for wanting to see InkRight® Semi-Permanent Tattoos. She had recently experienced a needle stick incident. We don't know that the incident occurred during patient marking, but the experience had made the idea of a needle free approach particularly relevant to her. It prompted her to seek out another option.
It is a good reminder of something that can be easy to overlook in a busy radiation therapy department: just because a process is routine doesn't mean it is the only way to do it.
For radiation therapists, InkRight semi-permanent tattoos provide another option for patient marking without introducing a needle into the process. That means one less task that requires a needle while still giving therapists the visible reference they need to support patient setup.
A Needle-Free Option for Patient Marking
Permanent tattoos have been used successfully in radiation therapy for years and may continue to be the right choice for many patients and treatment plans. But they don't have to be the only choice.
InkRight Semi-Permanent Tattoos are applied directly to the skin without a needle. The individually packaged dot and crosshair marks are hygienic, water resistant, and visible immediately upon application. There’s no ink bottle to manage and no refrigeration required, and the marks can be reapplied or realigned when needed.
For therapists who mark patients day after day, removing the needle from that step is a small but meaningful change. And sometimes, it takes a personal experience to make you look at a familiar process differently.
When Routine Processes Deserve Another Look
Radiation therapists work in an environment where safety and precision are part of nearly every decision. Yet some of the smallest tasks can become so familiar that no one stops to question
them. A needlestick can change that perspective.
Needlestick injuries can expose healthcare workers to bloodborne pathogens and may require reporting, evaluation, follow-up testing, and other steps after an exposure. Even when an incident does not result in infection, it can understandably make someone think differently about where needles are used in their daily work.
That doesn't mean the answer is to eliminate every needle or abandon a marking method that works well for a department. But it does raise question worth asking: Is a needle always necessary?
For patient marking, the answer is no.
More Than a Needlestick Conversation
The reason to consider a different marking approach doesn't have to begin with a safety incident.
Some patients are uncomfortable with needles. Others prefer not to receive a permanent tattoo for personal, cultural, or religious reasons.
Treatment itself is evolving, too. As hypofractionated treatment courses become more common in some areas of radiation therapy, teams may find themselves reconsidering whether every patient needs a permanent mark.
Having a needle-free option gives therapists more flexibility to respond to those situations while still maintaining a visible reference for setup.
That flexibility matters because therapists are usually the ones talking with patients directly. They answer the questions about the mark regarding application, maintenance, use throughout treatment.
Offering another option isn't about replacing what already works. It's about having the right tool when a different approach makes sense, whether that's driven by staff safety, patient preference, or the needs of a particular treatment course.
Could a Needle-Free Marking Option Fit Your Workflow?
Learn more about InkRight Semi-Permanent Tattoos and how they can give radiation therapy teams another option for patient marking.
