Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for providing shielding to a patient during a radiation treatment, the method including:locating at least one shield device over at least one portion of the patient to be shielded, the at least one shield device including:a plurality of overlapping and interconnected shield elements that form a sheet including at least one substantially configurable edge;substantially aligning at least one configurable edge of the at least one shield device with at least one field edge of a treatment zone of the patient to leave the treatment zone exposed including displacing one or more edge shield elements relative to one or more other shield elements to change a shape of the at least one configurable edge; andsubjecting the patient to a radiation treatment. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment zone is a breast of the patient, the method including placing the at least one shield device over the contralateral breast of the patient. 3. The method of claim 1 including aligning the at least one configurable edge of the shield device with a non-straight field edge of the treatment zone. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein locating the at least one shield device over at least one portion of the patient to be shielded includes aligning the shield device so that the plurality of shield elements face a direction of incident radiation. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of shield elements are arranged in a plurality of rows and wherein the plurality of rows are substantially parallel to at least one edge of the shield device. 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the at least one configurable edge is substantially parallel to the plurality of rows. 7. The method of claim 6 including aligning the at least one configurable edge with a substantially sagittal field edge of the treatment zone. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one shield device includes at least one sheet of scale maille. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of the shield elements include at least one of copper, brass, stainless steel, lead, tin, tungsten, silver and gold. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein a plurality of the shield elements are copper. 11. A device for use in radiation therapy of a patient, the device including a plurality of overlapping and interconnected shield elements that form a sheet including at least one configurable edge, the plurality of overlapping and interconnected shield elements including one or more edge shield elements that are displaceable relative to one or more other shield elements to change a shape of the at least one configurable edge to substantially conform the at least one configurable edge to a field edge of a radiation treatment zone of a patient during a radiotherapy procedure. 12. The device of claim 11 wherein the plurality of shield elements are arranged in a plurality of rows and wherein the plurality of rows are substantially parallel to at least one edge of the shield device. 13. The device of claim 12 wherein the at least one configurable edge is substantially parallel to the plurality of rows. 14. The device of claim 11 including at least one sheet of scale maille. 15. The device of claim 11 wherein a plurality of the shield elements are at least one of copper, brass, stainless steel, lead, tin, tungsten, silver and gold. 16. The device of claim 15 wherein a plurality of the shield elements are copper.