SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING INTENSITY MODULATED RADIATION THERAPY, PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND RELATED METHODS
First Claim
1. A system for determining dose in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, comprising:
- a communication network;
an image gathering device accessible to the communication network to provide an at least two-dimensional image slice of a target volume and an adjacent structure volume in a patient defining a patient volume;
a radiation beam source to deliver radiation to the target volume according to a radiation treatment plan along a plurality of pencil beams;
a radiation treatment planning computer in communication with the image gathering device and having memory and a processor coupled to the memory; and
radiation treatment planning program product stored in the memory of the radiation treatment planning computer and adapted for enhanced optimization of a radiation treatment plan for delivering radiation to the target volume, the radiation treatment planning program product including instructions that when executed by the processor of the radiation treatment planning computer causes the computer to perform the operations of;
receiving a set of photon beam data for a water medium to thereby parameterize a dose model for unit relative electron density, parameterizing a machine-dependent dose model for unit relative electron density responsive to the set of photon beam data, determining a machine-dependent primary dose profile for each of a first set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the dose model for unit relative electron density, determining a machine-dependent scatter dose profile for each of a second set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the dose model for unit relative electron density, determining patient specific primary dose profile parameters for each of the plurality of pencil beams to be utilized during radiation treatment responsive to the primary dose profiles, determining patient specific scatter dose profile parameters for each of the plurality of pencil beam to be utilized during radiation treatment, retrieving the patient specific primary and scatter dose profile parameters separately for each of a plurality of points of interest in a patient volume to compute dose with constant time computational complexity for each pencil-beam to each point of interest as selected a posteriori to profile parameter determination responsive to one of the following;
a value of electron density associated with the respective point of interest and an electron density distribution associated with the respective point of interest, defining a local electron density value for the respective point of interest, to thereby determine total dose at each of the plurality of points of interest, and producing a map of radiation dose delivered to the patient volume to allow a user to iteratively evaluate the total dose of the patient volume.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system to provide enhanced computational efficiency in determining dose in a media of varying density from a high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, program product, and related methods are provided. The system can include a radiation treatment planning computer and radiation treatment planning program product stored in the memory of the radiation treatment planning computer and adapted to enhance optimization of a radiation treatment plan for delivering radiation to a complex medium defining a patient volume. The radiation treatment planning program product provides functions including those for predetermining a delivery machine-dependent representation of radiation dose for a plurality of different electron densities selected over a preselected representative range, predetermining a depth-dependent representation of central axis properties of a pencil beam passing through a complex medium for each of a plurality of pencil beams, and determining with constant time computational complexity radiation dose for each of a plurality of points of interest in a heterogeneous medium having a complex spatial distribution of heterogeneous electron densities by applying the predetermined machine-dependent and depth-dependent representations.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A system for determining dose in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, comprising:
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a communication network;
an image gathering device accessible to the communication network to provide an at least two-dimensional image slice of a target volume and an adjacent structure volume in a patient defining a patient volume;
a radiation beam source to deliver radiation to the target volume according to a radiation treatment plan along a plurality of pencil beams;
a radiation treatment planning computer in communication with the image gathering device and having memory and a processor coupled to the memory; and
radiation treatment planning program product stored in the memory of the radiation treatment planning computer and adapted for enhanced optimization of a radiation treatment plan for delivering radiation to the target volume, the radiation treatment planning program product including instructions that when executed by the processor of the radiation treatment planning computer causes the computer to perform the operations of;
receiving a set of photon beam data for a water medium to thereby parameterize a dose model for unit relative electron density, parameterizing a machine-dependent dose model for unit relative electron density responsive to the set of photon beam data, determining a machine-dependent primary dose profile for each of a first set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the dose model for unit relative electron density, determining a machine-dependent scatter dose profile for each of a second set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the dose model for unit relative electron density, determining patient specific primary dose profile parameters for each of the plurality of pencil beams to be utilized during radiation treatment responsive to the primary dose profiles, determining patient specific scatter dose profile parameters for each of the plurality of pencil beam to be utilized during radiation treatment, retrieving the patient specific primary and scatter dose profile parameters separately for each of a plurality of points of interest in a patient volume to compute dose with constant time computational complexity for each pencil-beam to each point of interest as selected a posteriori to profile parameter determination responsive to one of the following;
a value of electron density associated with the respective point of interest and an electron density distribution associated with the respective point of interest, defining a local electron density value for the respective point of interest, to thereby determine total dose at each of the plurality of points of interest, andproducing a map of radiation dose delivered to the patient volume to allow a user to iteratively evaluate the total dose of the patient volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for determining dose in a media of varying electron density from a high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, comprising:
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a radiation treatment planning computer having memory and a processor in communication with the memory; and
radiation treatment planning program product stored in the memory of the radiation treatment planning computer and adapted to determine dose for a radiation treatment plan to deliver radiation to a complex medium defining a patient volume, the radiation treatment planning program product including instructions that when executed by the processor of the radiation treatment planning computer causes the computer to perform the operations of;
receiving measured dose data for unit relative electron density, determining machine-dependent primary dose profiles for each of a first set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the measured dose data for unit relative electron density, determining machine-dependent scatter dose profiles for each of a second set of a plurality of electron densities distributed through a preselected range of electron densities responsive to the measured dose data for unit relative electron density, and using the primary and scatter dose profiles to compute dose with constant time computational complexity for each of a plurality of points of interest in the complex medium responsive to one of the following;
a value of electron density associated with the respective point of interest and an electron density distribution associated with the respective point of interest, defining a local electron density value for the respective point of interest, to thereby determine total dose at each of the plurality of points of interest. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of determining dose in a media of varying electron density from a high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the steps of:
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predetermining a delivery machine-dependent representation of radiation dose for a plurality of different homogeneous media, each having an electron density selected over a preselected representative range;
predetermining a depth-dependent representation of central axis properties of a pencil beam passing through a complex medium having a complex spatial distribution of heterogeneous electron densities for each of a plurality of pencil beams; and
determining with constant time computational complexity, radiation dose for each of a plurality of points of interest in the complex medium, by applying the predetermined machine-dependent and depth-dependent representations. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of determining central axis dose in a media of varying electron density from a high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the step of modeling a dose profile by performing the steps of:
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determining a difference between a current central axis dose and a central axis dose at previous depth traveling into a complex medium along a central axis of a pencil beam in proportion to a product of a difference between the central axis dose at previous depth and an equilibrium dose to a homogeneous medium having an electron density at a point of interest, and an electron density dependent proportionality constant that depends on the electron density at the point of interest; and
determining the sum of the central axis dose at previous depth and the difference between the current central axis dose and the central axis dose at previous depth, to thereby form representations of a plurality of regions of dose build-up and dose build-down. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method of determining an off-axis dose profile actions in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a central axis primary dose;
receiving homogeneous medium off-axis primary dose profiles for a plurality of electron densities; and
determining an off-axis primary dose profile for a region of a complex medium having an electron density varying with depth along a central axis of a pencil beam by forming a combination of the homogeneous medium off-axis primary dose profiles weighted by values applied so that the center of the determined off-axis primary dose profile has primary dose equal the received central axis primary dose. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A method of determining an off-axis dose profile in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a central axis scatter dose;
receiving homogeneous medium off-axis scatter dose profiles for a plurality of electron densities; and
determining an off-axis scatter dose profile for a region of a complex medium having an electron density varying with depth along a central axis of a pencil beam from off-axis properties of a homogeneous medium corresponding to an effective electron density selected so that central axis scatter dose of the determined homogeneous medium off-axis scatter dose profile matches the received central axis scatter dose of the complex medium. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A method of determining dose in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the step of:
determining an off-axis dose profile for a pencil beam to a point of interest of a complex medium having an electron density distribution varying laterally at a depth of interest associated with the point of interest by using an off-axis dose profile of the pencil beam at a depth and an off-axis position of interest corresponding to the electron density distribution substantially equal to that of a local electron density distribution near the point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method of determining dose in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the step of:
determining for a preselected size pencil beam, a central axis primary dose in a homogeneous medium of arbitrary electron density from a central axis primary dose model for water equivalent medium of an equivalent effective field size by resealing a dose normalization factor and a linear attenuation and longitudinal buildup coefficients as a function of the arbitrary electron density. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A method of determining dose in heterogeneous media of varying electron density from a therapeutic high-energy radiation-beam for radiation treatment, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a central axis scatter dose model representing central axis scatter dose as a function of field size and depth for water equivalent medium;
determining a central axis scatter dose model representing central axis scatter dose as a function of field size and depth for a homogeneous medium of arbitrary electron density using an equivalent effective field size responsive to the received scatter dose model; and
determining at least one scatter volume for a homogeneous medium of arbitrary electron density by performing a modified Clarkson integration utilizing the determined central axis scatter dose model of the homogeneous medium of arbitrary electron density in the integration to derive the scatter volume. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the following operations:
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predetermining a delivery machine-dependent representation of radiation dose for a plurality of different electron densities selected over a preselected representative range;
predetermining for each of a plurality of pencil beams, a depth-dependent representation of central axis properties of a pencil beam passing through a complex medium having a complex spatial distribution of heterogeneous electron densities; and
determining with constant time computational complexity, radiation dose for each of a plurality of points of interest in the complex medium by applying the predetermined machine-dependent and depth-dependent representations. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A computer readable medium that is readable by a computer, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the operation of:
determining an off-axis dose profile for a pencil beam to a point of interest of a complex medium having an electron density distribution varying laterally at a depth of interest associated with the point of interest by using an off-axis dose profile for a homogeneous medium of the pencil beam at the depth of interest corresponding to the electron density distribution substantially equal to that of a local electron density distribution near the point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
Specification