Path planning and collision avoidance for movement of instruments in a radiation therapy environment
First Claim
1. A radiation therapy delivery system having fixed and movable components, the system comprising:
- a gantry;
a patient pod configured to secure a patient substantially immobile with respect to the patient pod;
a patient positioner interconnected to the patient pod so as to position the patient pod along multiple translational and rotational axes within the gantry;
a radiation therapy nozzle interconnected to the gantry and selectively delivering radiation therapy along a beam axis;
a plurality of external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle; and
a controller which receives the position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle and determines movement commands to position the patient in a desired pose with respect to the beam axis and corresponding movement trajectories of the patient pod with respect to other fixed and movable components of the therapy delivery system based upon the movement commands and determines whether a collision is indicated for the movement commands and inhibits movement if a collision would be indicated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A patient positioning system for use with a radiation therapy system that monitors the location of fixed and movable components and pre-plans movement of the movable components so as to inhibit movement if a collision would be indicated. The positioning system can also coordinate movement of multiple movable components for reduced overall latency in registering a patient. The positioning system includes external measurement devices which measure the location and orientation of objects, including components of the radiation therapy system, in space and can also monitor for intrusion into the active area of the therapy system by personnel or foreign objects to improve operational safety of the radiation therapy system.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A radiation therapy delivery system having fixed and movable components, the system comprising:
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a gantry;
a patient pod configured to secure a patient substantially immobile with respect to the patient pod;
a patient positioner interconnected to the patient pod so as to position the patient pod along multiple translational and rotational axes within the gantry;
a radiation therapy nozzle interconnected to the gantry and selectively delivering radiation therapy along a beam axis;
a plurality of external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle; and
a controller which receives the position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle and determines movement commands to position the patient in a desired pose with respect to the beam axis and corresponding movement trajectories of the patient pod with respect to other fixed and movable components of the therapy delivery system based upon the movement commands and determines whether a collision is indicated for the movement commands and inhibits movement if a collision would be indicated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A path planning and collision avoidance system for a radiation therapy system having fixed and movable components and selectively delivering a radiation therapy beam along a beam axis, the positioning system comprising:
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a plurality of external measurement devices arranged to obtain position measurements of the components so as to provide location information;
a movable patient support configured to support a patient substantially fixed in position with respect to the patient support and controllably position the patient in multiple translational and rotational axes; and
a controller receiving position information from the plurality of external measurement devices and providing movement commands to the movable patient support to automatically align the patient in a desired pose and determining a corresponding movement envelope wherein the controller evaluates the movement envelope and inhibits movement of the patient support if a collision is indicated else initiates the movement. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of registering and positioning a patient for delivery of therapy with a system having fixed and at least one movable components, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning a patient in an initial treatment pose with a controllable patient positioner;
externally measuring the location of selected points of the fixed and at least one movable components;
determining a difference vector between the observed initial patient pose and a desired patient pose;
determining corresponding movement commands and a movement trajectory for the patient positioner to bring the patient to the desired patient pose; and
comparing the movement trajectory with the measured locations of the selected points of the fixed and at least one movable components so as to inhibit movement of the patient positioner if a collision is indicated. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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- 25. A system for delivering radiation therapy to a pre-selected location within a patient, the system comprising a plurality of movable components including a patient positioner and a nozzle, the system further comprising an external monitoring system that monitors the physical location of the plurality of movable components and provides signals indicative thereof and wherein the system further includes internal monitoring systems that also monitor the movement of the plurality of movable components and provides signals indicative thereof and wherein the system monitors the signals from the external and internal monitoring systems and inhibits movement of the plurality of components if the signals indicate that a collision of components is likely to occur.
Specification