Method and apparatus for tracking an internal target region without an implanted fiducial
First Claim
1. A method for locating an internal target region during treatment, the method comprising:
- generating a plurality of first images of a relevant volume of a patient, the relevant volume including a target region and each of the plurality of first images showing the target region;
generating a second image of the relevant volume at a predetermined time; and
determining a location of the target region at the predetermined time by identifying one of the plurality of first images that best matches the second image.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for locating an internal target region during treatment without implanted fiducials is presented. The method comprises producing a plurality of first images that show an internal volume including the internal target region, then producing a live image of the internal volume during treatment and matching this live image to one of the plurality of first images. Since the first images show the internal target region, matching the live image to one of the first images identifies the position of the target region regardless of whether the second image itself shows the position of the target region. The first images may be any three-dimensional images such as CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. The live image may be, for example, an x-ray image. The invention may be used in conjunction with a real-time sensor to track the position of the target region on a real-time basis.
197 Citations
46 Claims
-
1. A method for locating an internal target region during treatment, the method comprising:
-
generating a plurality of first images of a relevant volume of a patient, the relevant volume including a target region and each of the plurality of first images showing the target region;
generating a second image of the relevant volume at a predetermined time; and
determining a location of the target region at the predetermined time by identifying one of the plurality of first images that best matches the second image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A method for obtaining an image of a patient'"'"'s internal volume, the method comprising:
-
determining a respiratory pattern of the patient;
selecting at least one point on the respiratory pattern; and
triggering an imaging device at the at least one point on the respiratory pattern to obtain an image at a known point on the respiratory pattern.
-
-
24. A method for locating an internal target region during treatment, the method comprising:
-
prior to treatment, generating a correlation of a set of bone positions with a set of target region positions; and
during treatment, producing a live image of a relevant bone and selecting one of the set of bone positions that most closely matches the live image of the relevant bone to determine a target region position at the time the live image is produced.
-
-
25. An apparatus for tracking the location of a target region inside a patient, the apparatus comprising:
-
an imaging device periodically generating an actual image of a relevant volume;
a memory unit storing a plurality of three-dimensional images wherein each of the three-dimensional images shows a pre-generated image of the relevant volume and the target region located in the relevant volume; and
a processor coupled to the imaging device and the memory unit, the processor including a first set of computer-readable instructions for selecting a best three-dimensional image that most closely resembles the actual image and a second set of computer-readable instructions for determining a position of the target region at the time the actual image is generated based on the best three-dimensional image. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A method for locating an internal target region during treatment, the method comprising:
-
prior to treatment, generating a correlation of a set of bone positions with a set of target region positions; and
during treatment, producing an image of a relevant bone and selecting one of the set of bone positions that most closely matches the image of the relevant bone to determine the target region position.
-
-
37. An apparatus for tracking the location of a target region inside a patient, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for generating a plurality of first images of a relevant volume inside the patient, the relevant volume including a target region and each of the plurality of first images showing the target region;
means for generating a second image of the relevant volume at a predetermined time; and
means for determining a location of the target region at the predetermined time by identifying one of the plurality of first images that best matches the second image. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
-
Specification