METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED EVALUATION OF MULTIPLE PORTAL DOSE IMAGES IN RADIATION THERAPY

• US 20120250971A1
• Filed: 03/28/2011
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers International AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Incorporated (Siemens AG), Varian Medical Systems International AG (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: HOLMES, Todd G., KLEINER, David
• Granted Patent: US 9,956,429 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/132
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1054 using a portal imaging system
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1048 Monitoring, verifying, controlling systems and methods
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1071 for verifying the dose delivered by the treatment plan
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture

Abstract

A method of evaluating a portal dose image includes obtaining a template from a database, the template prescribing one or more evaluation criteria, receiving a first portal dose image, and using a processor to evaluate the first portal dose image based at least in part on the one or more evaluation criteria from the template. In some embodiments, a second image is automatically evaluated after the first image is evaluated. A system for evaluating a portal dose image includes a processor that is communicatively coupled to a database, the database having a template that prescribes one or more evaluation criteria, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the template from the database, receive a first portal dose image, and evaluate the first portal dose image based at least in part on the one or more evaluation criteria from the template.

Claims

1. A method of evaluating a portal dose image, comprising:

obtaining a template from a database, the template prescribing one or more evaluation criteria;

receiving a first portal dose image; and

using a processor to evaluate the first portal dose image based at least in part on the one or more evaluation criteria from the template.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically using the one or more evaluation criteria from the template to evaluate a second portal dose image.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different respective fields of a treatment plan.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different sessions of a treatment plan.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different treatment plans.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more evaluation criteria comprises one or more tests, one or more thresholds, one or more tolerances, one or more preprocessing steps, or combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a plurality of templates that include the template, and the act of obtaining the template comprises selecting the template from the plurality of templates.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of evaluation is performed automatically after the first portal dose image is generated.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor evaluates the first portal dose image by performing a first test and a second test, wherein the second test is automatically performed by the processor after the first test is performed.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the processor to evaluate a second portal dose image, wherein the second portal dose image is evaluated automatically by the processor after the first portal dose image is evaluated.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a report that summarizes a result of the evaluation; and

storing the report in a medium or presenting the report on a screen.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the report also summarizes another result of an evaluation of a second portal dose image.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the report also provides an overall result that is derived from the results of the evaluations of the first and second portal dose images.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the result of the evaluation of the first portal dose image comprises a first set of test results from a first plurality of tests for evaluating the first portal dose image, and the result of the evaluation of the second portal dose image comprises a second set of test results from a second plurality of tests for evaluating the second portal dose image.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a first dose evaluation image using a first result of the evaluation; and

displaying the first dose evaluation image on a screen.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

obtaining a second dose evaluation image using a second result of an evaluation of a second portal dose image, wherein the act of obtaining the second dose evaluation image is performed automatically after the first dose evaluation image is obtained; and

displaying the second dose evaluation image on the screen.

17. A system for evaluating a portal dose image, comprising:

a processor that is communicatively coupled to a database, the database having a template that prescribes one or more evaluation criteria;

wherein the processor is configured to obtain the template from the database, receive a first portal dose image, and evaluate the first portal dose image based at least in part on the one or more evaluation criteria from the template.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured for automatically using the one or more evaluation criteria from the template to evaluate a second portal dose image.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different respective fields of a treatment plan.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different sessions of a treatment plan.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the first and second portal dose images are for different treatment plans.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more evaluation criteria comprises one or more tests, one or more thresholds, one or more tolerances, one or more preprocessing steps, or combination thereof.

23. The system of claim 17, further comprising a database that stores a plurality of templates, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the template by selecting the template from the plurality of templates.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to perform the evaluation automatically after the first portal dose image is generated.

25. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to evaluate the first portal dose image by performing a first test and a second test, and wherein the processor is configured to automatically perform the second test after the first test is performed.

26. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to evaluate a second portal dose image automatically after the first portal dose image is evaluated.

27. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to generate a report that summarizes a result of the evaluation.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the report also summarizes another result of an evaluation of a second portal dose image.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the report also provides an overall result that is derived from the results of the evaluations of the first and second portal dose images.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the result of the evaluation of the first portal dose image comprises a first set of test results from a first plurality of tests for evaluating the first portal dose image, and the result of the evaluation of the second portal dose image comprises a second set of test results from a second plurality of tests for evaluating the second portal dose image.

31. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to determine a first dose evaluation image using a first result of the evaluation, and automatically determine a second dose evaluation image after the first dose evaluation image is determined.

32. A computer product having a non-transitory medium that stores a set of instruction, an execution of which by a processor causes a process for evaluating a portal dose image to be performed, the process comprising:

obtaining a template from a database, the template prescribing one or more evaluation criteria;

receiving a first portal dose image; and

using a processor to evaluate the first portal dose image based at least in part on the one or more evaluation criteria from the template.

33. An apparatus for use in a process to evaluate dose image, comprising:

a screen displaying an user interface, wherein the user interface includes a plurality of fields for allowing a user to input evaluation criteria for evaluating one or more portal dose images;

wherein the user interface also includes a save button for allowing the user to save the evaluation criteria as a template.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the evaluation criteria comprises one or more tests, one or more thresholds, one or more tolerances, one or more preprocessing steps, or combination thereof.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the one or more portal dose images comprises a first dose image, and wherein the evaluation criteria comprises different tests for evaluating the first dose image.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the one or more portal dose images comprises a first dose image, and wherein the evaluation criteria comprises different thresholds for evaluating the first dose image based on a same testing technique.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the user interface includes an input for allowing the user to select a field or a session with which the one or more portal dose images are associated.