Method for optimizing a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for a patient target volume comprising:
- by a control circuit;
defining a radiation-control structure that conformally surrounds the patient target volume and wherein the radiation-control structure is a radiation-avoidance area and hence an area that a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan optimizer should avoid as much as possible and wherein the radiation-control structure has a user-chosen thickness;
automatically removing part, but not all, of the radiation-control structure to thereby leave only a remaining part of the radiation-control structure to control consideration of radiation source locations that are not disposed within the patient target volume; and
optimizing the brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for the patient target volume with respect to at least one of the radiation source locations that is not disposed within the patient target volume as a function, at least in part, of the remaining part of the radiation-control structure; and
placing radiation sources in a patient with respect to the patient target volume in accordance with the optimized brachytherapy radiation treatment plan.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A control circuit optimizes a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for a patient target volume by defining a radiation-control structure that conformally surrounds the patient target volume and then automatically removes part, but not all, of the radiation-control structure to control consideration of radiation sources that are not disposed within the patient target volume. By one approach the control circuit selectively removes parts of the radiation-control structure as a function of the geometry as corresponds to placement of one or more of the radiation sources. For many application settings it serves well for the radiation-control structure to represent a radiation-avoidance area.
-
Citations
8 Claims
-
1. A method for optimizing a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for a patient target volume comprising:
-
by a control circuit; defining a radiation-control structure that conformally surrounds the patient target volume and wherein the radiation-control structure is a radiation-avoidance area and hence an area that a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan optimizer should avoid as much as possible and wherein the radiation-control structure has a user-chosen thickness; automatically removing part, but not all, of the radiation-control structure to thereby leave only a remaining part of the radiation-control structure to control consideration of radiation source locations that are not disposed within the patient target volume; and optimizing the brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for the patient target volume with respect to at least one of the radiation source locations that is not disposed within the patient target volume as a function, at least in part, of the remaining part of the radiation-control structure; and placing radiation sources in a patient with respect to the patient target volume in accordance with the optimized brachytherapy radiation treatment plan. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method comprising:
-
by a control circuit configured to optimize a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for a patient target volume; defining a radiation-control structure that conformally surrounds the patient target volume and wherein the radiation-control structure is a radiation-avoidance area and hence an area that a brachytherapy radiation treatment plan optimizer should avoid as much as possible; automatically removing part, but not all, of the radiation-control structure to thereby leave only a remaining part of the radiation-control structure to control consideration of radiation source locations that are not disposed within the patient target volume; and optimizing the brachytherapy radiation treatment plan for the patient target volume with respect to at least one of the radiation source locations that is not disposed within the patient target volume as a function, at least in part, of the remaining part of the radiation-control structure; and placing radiation sources in a patient with respect to the patient target volume in accordance with the optimized brachytherapy radiation treatment plan.
-
Specification