Modular software system for guided radiation therapy

• US 20060052694A1
• Filed: 07/25/2005
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc. (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Phillips, Stephen C., Seghers, Ryan K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,899,513 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/426
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1051 using an active marker
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1049 for verifying the position of the patient with respect to the radiation beam
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1067 in real time, i.e. during treatment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture

Abstract

A facility for performing patient localization for radiation therapy is described. The facility activates two or more discrete software modules, and performs interactions between the activated software modules. Based upon the performed interactions, the facility performs patient localization for a radiation therapy session.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system for performing patient localization for radiation therapy, comprising:

activating in the computing system a plurality of discrete software modules;

performing interactions between the activated software modules; and

based on the performed interactions, performing patient localization for a radiation therapy session.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, based on the performed interactions, performing patient tracking for a radiation therapy session.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein a performed patient tracking is performed while a radiation dosage is being delivered to a patient.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein performing patient tracking provides a location in a patient relative to an external reference frame at a frequency such that the tracking error is less than five millimeters.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein a first software module is activated in a first computer system, and wherein a second software module is activated in a second computer system that is connected to the first computer system by a network, and wherein at least one of the performed interactions is an interaction between the first and second software module that traverses the network between the first and second computer systems.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the modules installed include:

a fiducial interrogation module that drives a sensor array to interrogate a set of one or more transponders;

a controller module that controls the transponder interrogation module and determines the location of each transponder of the set; and

a patient tracking module that determines the location of a patient treatment site relative to a treatment delivery isocenter.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the modules installed further include:

a tracking station user interface for displaying patient localization information;

a database module for storing patient localization information; and

a localization device tracking module for tracking the location of a patient localization device relative to the location the treatment delivery isocenter.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the modules installed further include:

a central module representing all of the installed software modules; and

a console user interface for displaying patient localization information to an occupant of a treatment chamber in which radiation therapy is delivered.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the modules installed include a distinguished module specific to a radiation therapy treatment site.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the modules installed include a distinguished module specific to a radiation therapy treatment activity.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the modules installed include a distinguished module specific to a radiation therapy treatment device.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the radiation therapy treatment device is a specific device.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the radiation therapy treatment device is a specific class of devices.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the modules installed further include a second distinguished module corresponding to a specific device among the class of devices.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the second distinguished module is comprised of code.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the second distinguished module is comprised of parameter values read and applied by the distinguished module.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the interactions are performed using a publish and subscribe mechanism.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein at least one of the performed interactions is a publication of distinguished information from a publisher module possessing the distinguished information to at least one subscriber module that has subscribed for the distinguished information.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the interactions are performed using .NET remoting.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein continuous patient localization is performed for a radiation therapy session.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein all interactions between the modules are performed using a publish and subscribe mechanism.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the computing system is a distributed computing system comprising at least a first node and a second node, and wherein a first of the software modules is activated in the first node, and wherein a second of the software modules is activated in the second node, and wherein inter-node interactions are performed between the first and second software modules.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the computing system is a distributed computing system comprised of a plurality of nodes in which software modules may be activated, and wherein at least a portion of the modules may be activated on two or more different nodes of the distributed computing system.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the activated software modules operates in a way that is dependent upon the technological approach used to perform patient localization, and wherein at least one of the activated software modules operates in a way that is not dependent on the technological approach used to perform patient localization.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein a first software module determines a result from received data, and wherein a second software module distinct from the first software module independently determines its own result from the received data in order to validate the result of the first software module.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein a first software module determines a result from received data, and wherein a second software module performs at least one back check on the result produced by the first module to validate the result produced by the first module.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the interactions are performed in a manner that is independent of hardware architecture and operating system identity.

28. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method for performing patient localization for radiation therapy, comprising:

activating in the computing system a plurality of discrete software components;

performing interactions between the activated software components; and

based on the performed interactions, performing patient localization for a radiation therapy session.

29. A computing system for performing patient localization, comprising:

two or more networked nodes; and

a localization initiation subsystem that, for each of a plurality of discrete software modules, activates the software module in one of the nodes, enabling the activated software modules to perform interactions through which patient localization is performed for a radiation therapy session.

30. A method for installing first and second application software packages, the first and second application software packages being designed to perform localization of a marker in or on a human body, the first application software package constituted of a first set of components, the second application software package constituted of a second set of components, the second set of components including at least one component included in the first set of components and at least one component not included in the first set of components, comprising:

installing the first application software package by installing each of the first set of components; and

at a time after the first application software package is installed, installing the second application software package by installing components (1) including components of the second set of components not included in the first set of components and (2) excluding at least one component of the first set.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein installing the first application software package includes storing in a component directory an association between the first application software package and the first set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the first set of components for activation to invoke the first application software package,

and wherein installing the second application software package includes storing in the component directory an association between the second application software package and the second set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the second set of components for activation to invoke the second application software package.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein installing the first application software package includes storing an association between the first application software package and the first set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the first set of components for activation to invoke the first application software package, and wherein installing the second application software package includes storing an association between the second application software package and the second set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the second set of components for activation to invoke the second application software package.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the first application software package is a distinguished version of a distinguished software product, and wherein the second application software package is a version of the distinguished software product subsequent to the distinguished version.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising executing the second application software package.

35. The method of claim 30, further comprising executing the first application software package.

36. The method of claim 30 wherein the first application software package is a first software product, and wherein the second application software package is a second software product distinct from the first software product.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the same organ.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy directed to the same medical disorder.

40. The method of claim 37 wherein the first application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to a first organ, and wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to a second organ distinct from the first organ.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the prostate.

42. The method of claim 40 wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the breast.

43. The method of claim 40 wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the head.

44. The method of claim 40 wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the neck.

45. The method of claim 40 wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the lung.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the second application software package includes a supplemental software module for performing respiration gating of the radiation therapy.

47. The method of claim 37 wherein the first application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a first medical disorder, and wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a second medical disorder distinct from the first medical disorder.

48. The method of claim 30, further comprising, contemporaneously with the installation of the second application software package, installing a hardware device used in conjunction with the second application software package.

49. A system for installing first and second application software packages, the first and second application software packages being designed to perform localization of a marker in or on a human body, the first application software package constituted of a first set of components, the second application software package constituted of a second set of components, the second set of components including at least one component included in the first set of components and at least one component not included in the first set of components, comprising:

an application software package receiver for receiving information representing the first application software package and information representing the second application software package; and

an installation manager that;

in response to receipt by the application software package receiver of information representing the first application software package, installs the first application software package by installing each of the first set of components, and

in response to receipt by the application software package receiver of information representing the first application software package at a time after the first application software package is installed, installs the second application software package by installing only those components of the second set of components not included in the first set of components.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the first and second application software packages both perform patient localization for radiation therapy.

51. A method in a computing system for launching a software product selected from a plurality of software products relating to radiation therapy tasks installed on the computing system, comprising:

receiving input identifying the selected software product;

accessing a module directory that identifies, for each software product of the plurality, at least one of a set of module versions included in the software product; and

using the identification of at least one of the set of module versions included in the software product, activating the module versions in order to locate one or more markers in or on a human body.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy with respect to a first organ, and wherein a software product of the plurality other than the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy with respect to a second organ that is distinct from the first organ.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a first medical disorder, and wherein a software product of the plurality other than the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a second medical disorder that is distinct from the first medical disorder.

55. The method of claim 51 wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a first software product a distinguished version of a distinguished module, and wherein the accessed module directory does not identify for a second software product any version of the distinguished module.

56. The method of claim 51 wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a first software product a first version of a distinguished module, and wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a second software product a second version of the distinguished module that is distinct from the first version of the distinguished module.

57. The method of claim 51 wherein the accessed module directory identifies for both a first software product and a second software product a distinguished version of a distinguished module.

58. The method of claim 51 wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product includes versions of the following modules:

a transponder interrogation module that drives a sensor array to interrogate a set of one or more transponders;

a controller module that controls the transponder interrogation module and determines the location of each transponder of the set; and

a patient tracking module that determines the location of a patient treatment site relative to a treatment delivery isocenter.

59. The method of claim 58 wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product further includes versions of the following modules:

a tracking station user interface for displaying patient localization information;

a database module for storing patient localization information; and

an array tracking module for tracking the location of the sensor array relative to the location the treatment delivery isocenter.

60. The method of claim 59 wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product further includes versions of the following modules:

a central module representing all of the installed software modules; and

a console user interface for displaying patient localization information to an occupant of a treatment chamber in which radiation therapy is delivered.

61. The method of claim 51, further comprising determining whether the computer system possesses a license key for the selected software product, and wherein activating identified module versions is performed only if it is determined that the computing system possesses a license key for the selected software product.

62. The method of claim 51 wherein each module version of the set of module versions included in the software product is identified by the accessed module directory.

63. The method of claim 51 wherein a proper subset of the set of module versions included in the software product is identified in the directory, and wherein explicit dependencies on the software modules identified by the directory on additional software modules of the set are used to identify the additional modules for activation.

67. The method of claim 51 wherein the each of the plurality of software products performs patient localization for radiation therapy.

64. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method for launching a software product selected from a plurality of software products installed on the computing system, comprising:

receiving input identifying the selected software product;

accessing a module directory that identifies, for each software product of the plurality, a set of module versions included in the software product; and

activating the module versions identified by the module directory for the selected software product in order to locate one or more markers in or on a human body.

65. The computer-readable medium of claim 64 wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy.

66. One or more computer memories collectively containing a module directory data structure, comprising data that identifies, for each a plurality of application software products for locating one or more markers in or on a human body, a set of module versions included in the application software product, such that a selected one of the plurality of application software products can be launched by activating each module version of the set of module versions identified for the selected application software product by the data contained by the a module directory data structure.

68. A method in a computing system for performing patient localization for radiation therapy, comprising:

during a first period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least a first software module and a second software module;

during the first period of time, when a distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed only by the second software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event only to the second software module;

during a second period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least the first software module, the second software module, and a third software module;

during the second period of time, when the distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed by both the second software module and the third software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event to both the second software module and the third software module, wherein the logic of the first software module is unaltered between the first period of time and the second period of time.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein the first software module is a Guidance System Controller module, and wherein the second software module is a Tracking Station UI software module, and wherein the third software module is a Console UI software module.

70. The method of claim 68 wherein the first software module is a Guidance System Controller Module, and wherein the second software module is a Tracking Station UI software module, and wherein the third software module is a Accessory Device Interface module.

71. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to a method for performing patient localization, the method comprising:

during a first period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least a first software module and a second software module;

during the first period of time, when a distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed only by the second software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event only to the second software module;

during a second period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least the first software module, the second software module, and a third software module;

during the second period of time, when the distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed by both the second software module and the third software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event to both the second software module and the third software module, wherein the logic of the first software module is unaltered between the first period of time and the second period of time.

72. A computing system for performing patient localization, comprising:

a publish and subscribe mechanism with which software modules may register with to (a) publish events of a particular type relating to patient localization for radiation therapy, and/or (b) subscribe to published events of a particular type relating to patient localization for radiation therapy;

one or more memories collectively containing a set of one or more executable software modules; and

one or more processors for executing software modules contained by the memories,

such that an executable software module among the set may, after registering to publish events of a distinguished type, publish events of the distinguished type without regard for the number or identity of software modules registered to subscribe to events of the distinguished type.