Methods and apparatus for the planning and delivery of radiation treatments
First Claim
1. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
- defining a trajectory comprising relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject and determining a radiation delivery plan;
sensing a position of the subject;
effecting relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory and, during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject comprises;
varying an intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory;
sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range and deactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range; and
sensing that the position is within the acceptable range and reactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is within the acceptable range; and
wherein varying the intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory comprises varying a radiation output rate of the treatment radiation source in accordance with the radiation delivery plan during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for planning and delivering radiation treatments by modalities which involve moving a radiation source along a trajectory relative to a subject while delivering radiation to the subject. In some embodiments the radiation source is moved continuously along the trajectory while in some embodiments the radiation source is moved intermittently. Some embodiments involve the optimization of the radiation delivery plan to meet various optimization goals while meeting a number of constraints. For each of a number of control points along a trajectory, a radiation delivery plan may comprise: a set of motion axes parameters, a set of beam shape parameters and a beam intensity.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory comprising relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject and determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a position of the subject; effecting relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory and, during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject comprises; varying an intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range and deactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range; and sensing that the position is within the acceptable range and reactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is within the acceptable range; and wherein varying the intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory comprises varying a radiation output rate of the treatment radiation source in accordance with the radiation delivery plan during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory comprising relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject and determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a position of the subject; effecting relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory and, during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject comprises; varying an intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range and deactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range; and sensing that the position is within the acceptable range and reactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is within the acceptable range; wherein varying the intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory comprises varying a radiation output rate of the treatment radiation source in accordance with the radiation delivery plan during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory; wherein the trajectory comprises a plurality of arcs, each arc involving relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject within a corresponding plane; and wherein, between successive ones of the plurality of arcs, the trajectory comprises inter-arc relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject, the inter-arc relative movement comprising movement such that the corresponding planes associated with each arc intersect one another.
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18. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory comprising relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject and determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a position of the subject; effecting relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory and, during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject comprises; varying an intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range and deactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is outside of an acceptable range; and sensing that the position is within the acceptable range and reactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the position is within the acceptable range; wherein varying the intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory comprises varying a radiation output rate of the treatment radiation source in accordance with the radiation delivery plan during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory; wherein the trajectory comprises a plurality of arcs, each arc involving relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject within a corresponding plane; and wherein, between successive ones of the plurality of arcs, the trajectory comprises inter-arc relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject, the inter-arc relative movement comprising movement such that the corresponding planes associated with each arc are parallel with one another.
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19. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory comprising relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject and determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a respiratory cycle of the subject; effecting relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory and, during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the treatment radiation beam from the treatment radiation source to the subject comprises; varying an intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; sensing that the respiratory cycle of the subject has moved a location of the target area outside of an acceptable range and deactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the respiratory cycle of the subject has moved a location of the target area outside of an acceptable range; and sensing that the respiratory cycle of the subject has moved the location of the target area to within the acceptable range and reactivating delivery of the treatment radiation beam based on the sensing that the respiratory cycle of the subject has moved the location of the target area to within the acceptable range; and wherein varying the intensity of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory comprises varying a radiation output rate of the treatment radiation source in accordance with the radiation delivery plan during the relative movement between the treatment radiation source and the subject along the trajectory. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification