PATIENT ALIGNMENT SYSTEM WITH EXTERNAL MEASUREMENT AND OBJECT COORDINATION FOR RADIATION THERAPY SYSTEM
First Claim
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1. A radiation therapy delivery system comprising:
- a gantry;
a patient fixation device configured to secure a patient with respect to the patient fixation device;
a movable patient positioner connected to the patient fixation device so as to position the patient fixation device along translational and rotational axes;
a radiation therapy nozzle connected to the gantry and adapted to selectively deliver radiation therapy along a beam axis;
a plurality of external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of at least the patient fixation device and the nozzle with respect to a substantially fixed frame of reference; and
a controller which receives the relative position measurements of at least the patient fixation device and the nozzle and provides control signals to the patient positioner to position the patient in a desired orientation with respect to the beam axis.
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Abstract
A patient alignment system for a radiation therapy system. The alignment system includes multiple external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of components of the radiation therapy system which are movable and/or are subject to flex or other positional variations. The alignment system employs the external measurements to provide corrective positioning feedback to more precisely register the patient and align them with a radiation beam. The alignment system can be provided as an integral part of a radiation therapy system or can be added as an upgrade to existing radiation therapy systems.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A radiation therapy delivery system comprising:
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a gantry;
a patient fixation device configured to secure a patient with respect to the patient fixation device;
a movable patient positioner connected to the patient fixation device so as to position the patient fixation device along translational and rotational axes;
a radiation therapy nozzle connected to the gantry and adapted to selectively deliver radiation therapy along a beam axis;
a plurality of external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of at least the patient fixation device and the nozzle with respect to a substantially fixed frame of reference; and
a controller which receives the relative position measurements of at least the patient fixation device and the nozzle and provides control signals to the patient positioner to position the patient in a desired orientation with respect to the beam axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A patient positioning system for a radiation therapy system having a plurality of components at least some of which are subject to uncontrolled movement, the positioning system comprising:
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a plurality of external measurement devices arranged to obtain position measurements of the plurality of components with respect to a substantially fixed frame of reference;
a movable patient support configured to support a patient substantially fixed in position with respect to the patient support and to controllably position the patient in multiple translational and rotational axes; and
a controller receiving patient position information from the plurality of external measurement devices and configured to provide translation and rotation movement commands to the movable patient support to align the patient in a desired pose such that the positioning system compensates for uncontrolled movement of the plurality of components. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of registering and positioning a patient for delivery of therapy with a system having a plurality of components, wherein at least certain of the components, including a patient positioner and a therapy nozzle, are subject to uncontrolled movement, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning a patient in an initial treatment pose with the patient positioner;
externally measuring the location of selected monuments of the plurality of components with respect to a substantially fixed frame of reference so as to define the initial treatment pose in the substantially fixed frame of reference;
determining a difference vector between the measured initial patient pose and a desired patient pose; and
providing movement commands to the patient positioner to bring the patient to the desired patient pose. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification