Proton beam digital imaging system
DCFirst Claim
1. An imaging system for a proton beam therapy system having a proton source, a beam delivery system with a nozzle that is mounted on a gantry so that said proton beam can be delivered to the patient from a plurality of angles, wherein said proton beam therapy system receives a master prescription image of a region of a patient that is to be treated, said imaging system comprising:
- an imaging beam source mounted on said beam delivery system wherein said imaging beam source is movable between a first position, wherein said imaging source can project an imaging beam along a treatment beam path towards a first side of said patient, and a second position wherein said imaging source is removed from said beam path to thereby allow said proton beam to travel along said treatment path;
an imaging beam receiver attached to said gantry so that said receiver is centered about said beam path throughout a plurality of angles of orientation of the gantry wherein said receiver receives said imaging beam after it has passed through a region of the patient that is positioned in said beam path;
an image capture device proximate to said receiver, wherein said image capture device directly receives a non-intensified signal from said receiver and produces a patient orientation image of the region of the patient'"'"'s body that is positioned in said beam path; and
a controller which receives both said master prescription image and said patient orientation image, wherein said controller is configured so that one or more rigid structures can be designated on said master prescription image so as to define the relative position of an isocenter to be treated in the patient'"'"'s body with respect to said one or more rigid structures and wherein said controller is also configured so that said one or more rigid structures can be designated on said patient orientation image so that said controller can determine the relative location of the center of said beam line with respect to said one or more rigid structures and wherein said controller using said relative position of said target isocenter and said beam line center with respect to said one or more rigid structures determine the relative movement between the patient and the gantry required so that the position of the center of the beam line with respect to the one or more rigid structures corresponds to the position of the target isocenter with respect to said one or more rigid structures.
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Abstract
A proton beam digital imaging system comprising an X-ray source which is movable into the treatment beam line that can produce an X-ray beam through a region of the patient. An X-ray receiver receives the X-ray beam after it has passed through the patient and the X-ray receiver generates photons that correspond to the X-ray image. The photons are directed to a TEC CCD camera to produce a patient orientation image which displays the orientation of the center of the beam relative to selected monuments in the patient'"'"'s skeletal structure. The system also receives a master prescription image which displays the target isocenter with respect to the same selected monuments of the patient'"'"'s skeletal structure. By comparison of the relative positions of the center of the beam in the patient orientation image and the isocenter in the master prescription image with respect to the selected monuments, the amount and direction of movement of the patient to make the beam center correspond to the target isocenter is determined.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. An imaging system for a proton beam therapy system having a proton source, a beam delivery system with a nozzle that is mounted on a gantry so that said proton beam can be delivered to the patient from a plurality of angles, wherein said proton beam therapy system receives a master prescription image of a region of a patient that is to be treated, said imaging system comprising:
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an imaging beam source mounted on said beam delivery system wherein said imaging beam source is movable between a first position, wherein said imaging source can project an imaging beam along a treatment beam path towards a first side of said patient, and a second position wherein said imaging source is removed from said beam path to thereby allow said proton beam to travel along said treatment path; an imaging beam receiver attached to said gantry so that said receiver is centered about said beam path throughout a plurality of angles of orientation of the gantry wherein said receiver receives said imaging beam after it has passed through a region of the patient that is positioned in said beam path; an image capture device proximate to said receiver, wherein said image capture device directly receives a non-intensified signal from said receiver and produces a patient orientation image of the region of the patient'"'"'s body that is positioned in said beam path; and a controller which receives both said master prescription image and said patient orientation image, wherein said controller is configured so that one or more rigid structures can be designated on said master prescription image so as to define the relative position of an isocenter to be treated in the patient'"'"'s body with respect to said one or more rigid structures and wherein said controller is also configured so that said one or more rigid structures can be designated on said patient orientation image so that said controller can determine the relative location of the center of said beam line with respect to said one or more rigid structures and wherein said controller using said relative position of said target isocenter and said beam line center with respect to said one or more rigid structures determine the relative movement between the patient and the gantry required so that the position of the center of the beam line with respect to the one or more rigid structures corresponds to the position of the target isocenter with respect to said one or more rigid structures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An imaging system for a proton beam therapy system having a proton source, a beam delivery system with a nozzle that is mounted on a gantry so that said proton beam can be delivered to the patient from a plurality of angles, wherein said imaging system receives a master prescription image of a region of the patient that is to be treated, said imaging system comprising:
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an X-ray source mounted on said beam delivery system wherein said X-ray source is movable between a first position, wherein said source can project an X-ray beam along a treatment beam path towards a first side of said patient, and a second position wherein said source is removed from said beam path to thereby allow said proton beam to travel along said treatment path; an X-ray beam receiver attached to said gantry so that said receiver is centered about said beam path throughout the plurality of angles of orientation of the gantry wherein said receiver receives said X-ray beam after it has passed through a region of the patient that is positioned in said beam path and produces a photon image corresponding to the portion of the patient'"'"'s body in the beam line; an image capture device which receives said photon image directly from said X-ray beam receiver, and produces a patient orientation image of the region of the patient'"'"'s body that is positioned in said beam path so that said patient orientation image is substantially undistorted by intensification; and a controller which receives both said master prescription image and said patient orientation image, wherein said controller is configured so that one or more monuments can be designated on said master prescription image so as to define the relative position of an isocenter to be treated in the patient'"'"'s body with respect to said one or more monuments and wherein said controller is also configured so that said one or more monuments can be designated on said patient orientation image so that said controller can determine the relative location of the center of said beam line with respect to said one or more monuments and wherein said controller using said relative position of said target isocenter and said beam line center with respect to said one or more monuments determines the movement of the patient required so that the position of the center of the beam line with respect to the one or more monuments corresponds to the position of the target isocenter with respect to said one or more monuments. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of aligning a patient in a proton beam therapy system so that the center of a beam line from a nozzle is centered at a target isocenter positioned within the body of the patient, said method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a master prescription image of the patient for a desired orientation of the beam wherein the master prescription image is stored in a computer system; positioning the patient on a treatment table so that the region of the patient'"'"'s body containing the target isocenter is positioned in front of the nozzle; transmitting an imaging beam along the treatment beam path so that the imaging beam is transmitted into the region of the patient'"'"'s body positioned in front of the nozzle; receiving the imaging beam after it has been transmitted into the region of the patient'"'"'s body and directly capturing a non-intensified patient orientation image of the region of the patient'"'"'s body that is positioned in said beam path that is provided to said computer system; designating said one or more monuments, using said computer system, on said master prescription image; designating said one or more monuments, using said computer system, on said patient orientation image wherein said one or more monuments designated on both said master prescription image and said patient orientation image correspond to the same point of said patient'"'"'s anatomy; determining the relative position of the center of said treatment beam with respect to the one or more monuments designated in the patient orientation image; determining the offset between the target isocenter with respect to the one or more monuments in the master prescription image and the center of the beam with respect to the one or more monuments in the patient orientation image using said computer system; and determining the distance and direction the patient will have to be moved so that the position of the center of the beam with respect to the one or more monuments coincides with the position of the target isocenter with respect to the one or more monuments. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A therapeutic imaging system for a treatment beam therapy system having a treatment beam source, a beam delivery system with a nozzle that is configured to provide the treatment beam from a plurality of different angles, said therapeutic imaging system comprising:
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an X-ray beam source mounted on said beam delivery system wherein said X-ray beam source is movable between a first position, wherein said X-ray source can project an X-ray beam along a treatment beam path towards a first side of said patient, and a second position wherein said X-ray is removed from said beam path to thereby allow said treatment beam to travel along said treatment beam path; a fluorescing screen positioned so as to be centered about said beam path wherein said fluorescing screen receives said X-ray beam after it has passed through a region of the patient that is positioned in said beam path and produces a resulting photon image; and a digital camera which receives said photon image directly from said fluorescing screen and produces a patient orientation image of the region of the patient'"'"'s body that is positioned in said beam path so that said patient orientation image is substantially undistorted by intensification. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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Specification