Identification system and method for radiation therapy
First Claim
1. A system for identifying a medical patient among a plurality of patients for localized radiation therapy comprising:
- memory means for storing position data representative of arrangements of targets affixed to said plurality of patients for aligning said patients relative to a source of radiation, each arrangement of targets being unique to one of said patients;
imaging means for generating image data responsive to positions of said targets on a particular patient;
processing means, connected to said memory means and said imaging means, for comparing said image data from said imaging means with said position data stored in said memory means; and
identification means, responsive to said processing means, for identifying said particular patient based upon detecting a correlation between said image data and said position data.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for identifying and processing individual patients among a set of patients includes storing position data representative of patient-unique arrangements of targets that are affixed to the patients for aligning a therapeutic radiation beam. Subsequent to the recording of the position data, a particular patient and/or the medical information of the particular patient can be identified by reimaging the targets or substitute targets on the particular patient to detect a correlation between the image data and the stored position data. The correlation may be used to register a patient, track the location of the patient within a multi-station facility, or facilitate treatment setup, such as beam-to-patient alignment, radiation configuration, and beam control.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A system for identifying a medical patient among a plurality of patients for localized radiation therapy comprising:
-
memory means for storing position data representative of arrangements of targets affixed to said plurality of patients for aligning said patients relative to a source of radiation, each arrangement of targets being unique to one of said patients; imaging means for generating image data responsive to positions of said targets on a particular patient; processing means, connected to said memory means and said imaging means, for comparing said image data from said imaging means with said position data stored in said memory means; and identification means, responsive to said processing means, for identifying said particular patient based upon detecting a correlation between said image data and said position data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of processing medical patients for radiation therapy comprising steps of:
-
affixing targets relative to individual patients for whom radiation therapy is prescribed such that each patient is associated with a unique pattern of positions of said targets; recording each of said patterns in memory; establishing a correspondence between each recorded pattern and the patient associated with said recorded pattern; recording medical information, including recording at least one of a patient radiation treatment plan, a medical history, and patient-location tracking data for each of said patients; and automatically accessing said medical information based upon recognition of one of said patterns, including imaging targets on one of said patients and matching a pattern of said imaged targets with one of said recorded patterns and including accessing said recorded medical information for the patient associated with said matched recorded pattern. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of processing a medical patient for a radiation therapy session comprising steps of:
-
affixing targets to said patient in a pattern that is unique to said patient; generating image data of said targets; determining positions of said targets in three-dimensional space based upon said image data; comparing said positions to stored position data representative of positions of targets that were affixed to patients during prior radiation therapy sessions; and if a match is detected between said positions of targets affixed to said patient and positions of targets during a prior session, downloading medical information regarding said patient, said medical information including at least one of a patient radiation treatment plan, a medical history, and patient location tracking information, said downloading being based upon an association in memory between said medical information and said positions of targets during said prior session, thereby using said position data as an identifier of said patient. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
-
Specification