Ion beam therapy system and its couch positioning method
First Claim
1. A therapy system using an ion beam, in which an ion beam for treatment is delivered to an irradiation target, said therapy system comprising:
- a rotating gantry;
a beam generator for generating said ion beam;
a beam delivery unit mounted to said rotating gantry and delivering said ion beam;
an X-ray generator generating an X-ray and mounted to said rotating gantry, said X-ray generator being capable of moving to a position of a beam path of said ion beam, revolving about a rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry and emitting X-ray at a plurality of rotation angles of said rotating gantry;
a plurality of X-ray detectors for detecting the X-ray emitted from said X-ray generator and outputting X-ray detection signals, said plurality of X-ray detectors being mounted to said rotating gantry and revolving about the rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry; and
an image information forming unit for forming three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target by using information obtained based on the X-ray detection signals from said plurality of X-ray detectors obtained upon rotation of said rotating gantry, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A therapy system using an ion beam, which can shorten the time required for positioning a couch (patient). The therapy system using the ion beam comprises a rotating gantry provided with an ion beam delivery unit including an X-ray tube. An X-ray detecting device having a plurality of X-ray detectors can be moved in the direction of a rotation axis of the rotating gantry. A couch on which a patient is lying is moved until a tumor substantially reaches an extension of an ion beam path in the irradiating unit. The X-ray tube is positioned on the ion beam path and the X-ray detecting device is positioned on the extension of the ion beam path. With rotation of the rotating gantry, both the X-ray tube emitting an X-ray and the X-ray detecting device revolve around the patient. The X-ray is emitted to the patient and detected by the X-ray detectors after penetrating the patient. Tomographic information of the patient is formed based on signals outputted from the X-ray detectors. Information for positioning the couch is generated by using the tomographic information.
237 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A therapy system using an ion beam, in which an ion beam for treatment is delivered to an irradiation target, said therapy system comprising:
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a rotating gantry; a beam generator for generating said ion beam; a beam delivery unit mounted to said rotating gantry and delivering said ion beam; an X-ray generator generating an X-ray and mounted to said rotating gantry, said X-ray generator being capable of moving to a position of a beam path of said ion beam, revolving about a rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry and emitting X-ray at a plurality of rotation angles of said rotating gantry; a plurality of X-ray detectors for detecting the X-ray emitted from said X-ray generator and outputting X-ray detection signals, said plurality of X-ray detectors being mounted to said rotating gantry and revolving about the rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry; and an image information forming unit for forming three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target by using information obtained based on the X-ray detection signals from said plurality of X-ray detectors obtained upon rotation of said rotating gantry, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 21)
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11. A radiation tomographic image capturing method comprising the steps of:
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rotating a rotating gantry provided with a beam delivery unit for emitting an ion beam for treatment to an irradiation target and a X-ray generator for emitting a X-ray, thereby revolving said radiation generator emitting said X-ray around a couch supporting an irradiation target; detecting said X-ray having penetrated said irradiation target by a plurality of X-ray detectors mounted to said rotating gantry and revolving around said irradiation target with rotation of said rotating gantry; and forming three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target by using information obtained based on X-ray detection signals outputted respectively from said plurality of X-ray detectors, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals. - View Dependent Claims (12, 22)
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13. An X-ray tomographic image capturing method comprising the steps of:
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rotating a rotating gantry provided with a beam delivery unit for emitting a ion beam for treatment to an irradiation target and an X-ray generator for emitting an X-ray, thereby revolving said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray around a couch supporting said irradiation target; detecting the X-ray having penetrated said irradiation target by a plurality of X-ray detectors mounted to said rotating gantry and revolving around said irradiation target with rotation of said rotating gantry; and forming three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target by using information obtained based on X-ray detection signals outputted respectively from said plurality of X-ray detectors, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray, and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 23)
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15. A couch positioning method comprising the steps of:
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moving a X-ray generator, which is provided in a beam delivery unit for delivering a chaged particle beam to an irradiation target, to a position of a radiation path of said ion beam; rotating a rotating gantry provided with said beam delivery unit, thereby revolving said X-ray generator positioned on said radiation path and emitting said X-ray and a plurality of X-ray detectors for detecting said X-ray around a couch supporting said irradiation target; detecting said X-ray having penetrated said irradiation target by the plurality of X-ray detectors; forming first three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target by using information obtained based on X-ray detection signals from said plurality of X-ray detectors obtained upon rotation of said rotating gantry, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals; generating information for positioning said couch by using said first three-dimensional image information and second tomographic information of said irradiation target used at a treatment plan for said irradiation target; and moving said couch based on the positioning information. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 24)
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18. An ion beam delivery method comprising the steps of:
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rotating a rotating gantry provided with a beam delivery unit for delivering an ion beam for treatment to an irradiation target and a X-ray generator for emitting a X-ray, thereby revolving said X-ray generator emitting said X-ray around said irradiation target lying on a couch; detecting said X-ray having penetrated said irradiation target by a plurality of X-ray detectors mounted to said rotating gantry and revolving around said irradiation target with rotation of said rotating gantry; positioning said couch based on three-dimensional image information of said irradiation target formed by using information obtained based on X-ray detection signals from said plurality of X-ray detectors obtained upon rotation of said rotating gantry, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals, and second tomographic information of said irradiation target used in a treatment plan; and delivering said ion beam from said beam delivery unit to said irradiation target lying on said positioned couch. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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19. A couch positioning system comprising:
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a rotating gantry; a beam delivery unit mounted to said rotating gantry and delivering an ion beam for treatment; an X-ray generator mounted to said rotating gantry and generating a X-ray, said X-ray generator being capable of moving to a position of a radiation path of said ion beam, revolving about a rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry and emitting X-ray at a plurality of rotation angles of said rotating gantry; a plurality of X-ray detectors mounted to said rotating gantry, said plurality of X-ray detectors detecting said X-ray emitted from said X-ray generator and outputting X-ray detection signals, and revolving about the rotation axis of said rotating gantry with rotation of said rotating gantry; and a controller for positioning a couch based on three-dimensional image information of an irradiation target formed by using information obtained based on the X-ray detection signals from said plurality of X-ray detectors obtained upon rotation of said rotating gantry, position information of said X-ray generator emitting the X-ray and position information of said plurality of X-ray detectors outputting the X-ray detection signals, and second tomographic information of said irradiation target used at a treatment plan. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification