Method and device for delivering radiotherapy
First Claim
1. A method for improving radiation therapy by reducing patient alignment time, decreasing cost per patient, and reducing non-therapeutic radiation exposure to a patient, the method comprising:
- providing a computerized treatment planning system;
providing an isocentric mechanical gantry that houses a beam delivery system for radiation therapy, the gantry having a gantry rotation axis;
performing a single alignment procedure by reproducibly interfacing a patient with radiation equipment to obtain anatomical and morphological information, the alignment procedure comprising each of the following five steps;
registering the patient by placing the patient on a patient positioner in a reproducible manner, the patient positioner configured to rotate about at least one patient positioner rotation axis;
immobilizing the patient by attaching the registered patient to the patient positioner so that the patient and patient positioner move together as a single unit in a controlled fashion;
localizing target tissue within the patient by determining the location of the target relative to radiation equipment;
positioning the patient by moving the patient positioner to place the target in a desired orientation at a desired location, both with respect to the radiation equipment;
verifying the target'"'"'s orientation and location with respect to the radiation equipment using the same technique used in the localizing step;
with the treatment planning system, using the results of the single alignment procedure to create a single set of pre-measured data representing a fine positional adjustment that compensates for characteristics of the patient and patient positioner together;
using the single set of pre-measured data to accurately position the patient with respect to the gantry; and
irradiating the patient from multiple gantry directions without realignment, each time relying on the same single set of pre-measured data resulting from the single alignment procedure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device 10 for aligning a patient for delivering a plurality of radiation beams comprising a patient support surface 12, a coarse alignment subsystem 14 connected to the patient support surface, and a fine alignment subsystem connected to the patient support surface 16. A method of aligning a patient for delivering a plurality of radiation beams from a plurality of device positions comprising compensating for flexion of a radiation beam delivery device within a gantry during movement of the radiation beam delivery device from a first device position to a second device position by using a set of predetermined data describing the flexion behavior of the radiation beam delivery device so that the target tissue within the patient is placed at the beamline center for the radiation beam delivery device at the second device position.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for improving radiation therapy by reducing patient alignment time, decreasing cost per patient, and reducing non-therapeutic radiation exposure to a patient, the method comprising:
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providing a computerized treatment planning system; providing an isocentric mechanical gantry that houses a beam delivery system for radiation therapy, the gantry having a gantry rotation axis; performing a single alignment procedure by reproducibly interfacing a patient with radiation equipment to obtain anatomical and morphological information, the alignment procedure comprising each of the following five steps; registering the patient by placing the patient on a patient positioner in a reproducible manner, the patient positioner configured to rotate about at least one patient positioner rotation axis; immobilizing the patient by attaching the registered patient to the patient positioner so that the patient and patient positioner move together as a single unit in a controlled fashion; localizing target tissue within the patient by determining the location of the target relative to radiation equipment; positioning the patient by moving the patient positioner to place the target in a desired orientation at a desired location, both with respect to the radiation equipment; verifying the target'"'"'s orientation and location with respect to the radiation equipment using the same technique used in the localizing step; with the treatment planning system, using the results of the single alignment procedure to create a single set of pre-measured data representing a fine positional adjustment that compensates for characteristics of the patient and patient positioner together; using the single set of pre-measured data to accurately position the patient with respect to the gantry; and irradiating the patient from multiple gantry directions without realignment, each time relying on the same single set of pre-measured data resulting from the single alignment procedure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for improving teletherapy by reducing patient alignment time, decreasing cost per patient, and reducing radiation exposure to a patient, the method comprising:
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providing a computerized treatment planning system; providing a gantry for delivering radiation; performing a single alignment procedure to create a single set of pre-measured data that is specific to the patient and to the gantry; using the single set of pre-measured data and the treatment planning system and a fine alignment subsystem to precisely position the patient; and irradiating a patient from multiple gantry directions without realigning the patient between radiation doses.
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14. A system for aligning a patient for delivering multiple beams of radiation, the system comprising:
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a registration and immobilization device configured to register and immobilize a patient to a diagnostic positioner; a scanner configured to perform a scan of the patient to create images and provide the images to a computerized treatment planning system; the computerized treatment planning system configured to use the images to determine a target location in the patient that is desired to correspond to an isocenter of a radiation treatment device having a gantry and to determine the target location relative to a reference point of the diagnostic positioner; a calculating device configured to calculate, based on known differences between the diagnostic positioner and a treatment positioner and on the relationship between the treatment positioner and the radiation treatment device, coordinates for placing the target location at the isocenter of the radiation treatment device; the treatment positioner configured to accept the same registration and immobilization devices that were used for the scan; an automatic positioner configured to use the coordinates to automatically position the target at or near the isocenter; an imager configured to acquire one or more localization images with the patient in one or more radiation fields for determination of any discrepancy between the actual position of the target and the actual isocenter; a fine alignment subsystem configured to automatically correct for the discrepancy, if any; and the automatic positioner configured to automatically compensate for movement of the gantry and movement of a snout of the radiation treatment device, the compensation based on; pre-measured data sets that recorded movement of the radiation treatment device during gantry rotation and snout extension; and sensors recording the present gantry angle and snout extension. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification