Patient positioning assembly

• US 20050228255A1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Published: 10/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accuray Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Accuray Incorporated
• Inventors: Thompson, Euan, Bodduluri, Mohan, Wang, James, Earnst, Eric, Raanes, Chris, Saracen, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,860,550 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/0487 Motor-assisted positioning
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/548 Remote control of the apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/105 using a laser alignment system
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1049 for verifying the position of the patient with respect to the radiation beam
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/107 in real time, i.e. during treatment

Abstract

A robotic patient positioning assembly for therapeutic radiation treatment includes a robotic positioning device for moving and supporting the patient during treatment, a sensor system for detecting the position of the robotic positioning device, and a controller operatively connected with the sensor system for receiving position data of the robotic positioning device and operatively connected to the robotic positioning device for controlling the motions of the robotic positioning device. The controller is adapted for controlling the motion of the robotic positioning device in response to information representative of the position of the robotic positioning device received from the sensor system, so that the treatment target within a patient loaded on the robotic positioning device is properly aligned with a radiation source of a therapeutic radiation treatment system.

Claims

1. A patient positioning assembly for adjusting patient position during a therapeutic radiation treatment using a therapeutic radiation treatment system, said therapeutic radiation treatment system including a therapeutic radiation source for generating at least one therapeutic radiation beam, and an image system for generating image data representative of at least one image of a treatment target, said image data containing information regarding the near real time position of said treatment target with respect to a treatment coordinate system,

wherein said patient positioning assembly comprises:

a robotic positioning device for supporting and moving the patient loaded on said robotic positioning device, wherein said robotic positioning device is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom.

2. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 1, wherein said robotic patient positioning assembly further comprises a sensor system for detecting the position of said robotic positioning device relative to said treatment coordinate system, and a controller operatively connected with said sensor system for receiving position data of said robotic positioning device, and operatively connected to said therapeutic radiation treatment system for receiving near real time image data of said treatment target and information representative of the position of said therapeutic radiation source, wherein said controller is operatively connected to said robotic positioning device and is adapted to control the movement of said robotic positioning device to align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source.

3. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said sensor system includes a magnetic tracking system for tracking the position of said robotic positioning device relative to said treatment coordinate system, wherein said magnetic tracking system includes at least one transducer attached to said robotic positioning device.

4. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said sensor system comprises a resolver-based sensor system.

5. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one inertial sensor attached to said robotic positioning assembly.

6. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one infrared sensor.

7. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one laser scanning device.

8. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to automatically align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source.

9. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to periodically adjust the position of said treatment target to maintain said treatment target being aligned with said therapeutic radiation source.

10. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 2, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to reverse-synchronize breath motions of said patient to compensate breath-motion caused movement of said treatment target, thereby maintaining said treatment target aligned with said therapeutic radiation source.

11. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 1, wherein said robotic positioning device includes a supporting means for supporting said patient and a robot connected to said supporting means for moving said supporting means in at least five degrees of freedom.

12. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 11, wherein said supporting means has a chair-like shape.

13. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 11, wherein said controller has pre-programmed therein at least one substantially horizontal position and/or at least one substantially vertical position of said supporting means for loading and/or unloading a patient.

14. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 13, wherein said substantially vertical position of said supporting means is oblique to a horizontal plane.

15. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 14, wherein said substantially vertical position of said supporting means is oblique to the horizontal plane at an angle of about 110 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane.

16. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 11, wherein said supporting means is made of a radiolucent material.

17. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 11, wherein said supporting means includes a top surface molded to fit a patient'"'"'s body curve.

18. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 11, wherein said supporting means includes a footplate(s) at one end of said supporting means.

19. A patient positioning assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said at least five degrees of freedom comprises six degrees of freedom, wherein said six degrees of freedom comprise three translational degrees of freedom for translations along mutually orthogonal x-, y-, and z-coordinate axes, and three rotational degrees of freedom for roll-, pitch-, and yaw-rotations about roll-, pitch-, and yaw-axes, respectively.

20. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 1, wherein said robotic positioning device comprises:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

an arm extending between a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is rotatably attached to said plate member; and

a supporting means for supporting a patient thereon, wherein said supporting means is rotatably attached to said second end of said arm.

21. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 1, wherein said robotic positioning device comprises:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

a first arm having a first end rotatably attached to said plate member, and a second end;

a second arm having a first end rotatably attached to the second end of said first arm, and a second end; and

a supporting means for supporting a patient thereon, wherein said supporting means is rotatably attached to said second end of said second arm.

22. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 21, wherein said base member is rotatably mounted on a plinth.

23. A patient positioning assembly comprising:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

an arm extending between a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is rotatably attached to said plate member; and

a supporting means rotatably attached to said second end of said arm for supporting a patient thereon, whereby said supporting means is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom.

24. A patient positioning assembly comprising:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

a first arm having a first end rotatably attached to said plate member, and a second end;

a second arm having a first end rotatably attached to the second end of said first arm, and a second end; and

a supporting means rotatably attached to said second end of said second arm for supporting a patient thereon, whereby said supporting means is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom.

25. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 24, wherein said base member is adapted to be rotatably mounted on a plinth.

26. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 24 further comprising a controller operatively connected to said patient positioning assembly for controlling the movement of said patient positioning assembly.

27. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 26, wherein said controller has pre-programmed therein at least one substantially horizontal position and/or at least one substantially vertical position of said supporting means for loading and/or unloading a patient.

28. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 26, wherein said patient positioning assembly further comprises a sensor system for detecting the position of said supporting means relative to a treatment coordinate system, and wherein said controller is operatively connected with said sensor system for receiving position data of said supporting means.

29. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 28, wherein said sensor system includes a magnetic tracking system for tracking the position of said supporting means relative to said treatment coordinate system, wherein said magnetic tracking system includes at least one transducer attached to said supporting means.

30. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 24, wherein said supporting means has a chair-like shape.

31. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 24, wherein said supporting means is made of a radiolucent material.

32. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 24, wherein said supporting means includes a top surface molded to fit a patient'"'"'s body curve.

33. A patient positioning assembly in accordance with claim 24, wherein said at least five degrees of freedom comprises six degrees of freedom, wherein six degrees freedom comprise three translational degrees of freedom for translations along mutually orthogonal x-, y-, and z-coordinate axes, and three rotational degrees of freedom for roll-, pitch-, and yaw-rotations about roll-, pitch-, and yaw-axes, respectively.

34. A patient positioning assembly for adjusting patient position during a therapeutic radiation treatment using a therapeutic radiation treatment system, said therapeutic radiation treatment system including a therapeutic radiation source for generating at least one therapeutic radiation beam, and an image system for generating image data representative of at least one image of a treatment target, said image data containing information regarding the near real time position of said treatment target with respect to a treatment coordinate system,

wherein said patient positioning assembly comprises:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

a first arm having a first end rotatably attached to said plate member, and a second end;

a second arm having a first end rotatably attached to the second end of said first arm, and a second end; and

a supporting means rotatably attached to said second end of said second arm for supporting a patient thereon, whereby said supporting means is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom.

35. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said base member is rotatably mounted on a plinth.

36. A patient positioning assembly in accordance with claim 34, wherein said at least five degrees of freedom comprises six degrees of freedom, wherein said six degrees of freedom comprise three translational degrees of freedom for translations along mutually orthogonal x-, y-, and z-coordinate axes, and three rotational degrees of freedom for roll-, pitch-, and yaw-rotations about roll-, pitch-, and yaw-axes, respectively.

37. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said patient positioning assembly further comprises a controller operatively connected to said patient positioning assembly for controlling the movement of said plate member, said first arm, said second arm, and said supporting means.

38. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 37, wherein said patient positioning assembly further comprises a sensor system for detecting the position of said supporting means relative to said treatment coordinate system, and said controller being operatively connected with said sensor system for receiving position data of said supporting means, and operatively connected to said therapeutic radiation treatment system for receiving near real time image data of said treatment target and information representative of the position of said therapeutic radiation source, wherein said controller is adapted to align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source responsive to said position data from said sensor system and said near real time image data from said treatment system.

39. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said sensor system includes a magnetic tracking system for tracking the position of said robotic positioning device relative to said treatment coordinate system, wherein said magnetic tracking system includes at least one transducer attached to said robotic positioning device.

40. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said sensor system comprises a resolver-based sensor system.

41. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one inertial sensor attached to said robotic positioning assembly.

42. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one infrared sensor.

43. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said sensor system comprises at least one laser scanning device.

44. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to automatically align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source.

45. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to periodically adjust the position of said treatment target to maintain said treatment target being aligned with said therapeutic radiation source.

46. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 38, wherein said patient positioning assembly is programmed to reverse-synchronize breath motions of said patient to compensate breath-motion caused movement of said treatment target, thereby maintaining said treatment target aligned with said therapeutic radiation source.

47. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said controller has pre-programmed therein at least one substantially horizontal position and/or at least one substantially vertical position of said supporting means for loading and/or unloading a patient.

48. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said supporting means is made of a radiolucent material.

49. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said supporting means includes a top surface molded to fit a patient'"'"'s body curve.

50. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said supporting means includes a footplate(s) at one end of said supporting means.

51. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 34, wherein said supporting means has a chair-like shape.

52. A patient positioning assembly for adjusting patient position during a therapeutic radiation treatment using a therapeutic radiation treatment system, said therapeutic radiation treatment system including a therapeutic radiation source for generating at least one therapeutic radiation beam, and an image system for generating image data representative of at least one image of a treatment target, said image data containing information regarding the near real time position of said treatment target with respect to a treatment coordinate system,

wherein said patient positioning assembly comprises:

a robotic positioning device for supporting and moving the patient loaded on said robotic positioning device during treatment, wherein said robotic positioning device is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom;

a sensor system for detecting the position of said robotic positioning device relative to said treatment coordinate system; and

a controller operatively connected with said sensor system for receiving position data of said robotic positioning device and operatively connected to said therapeutic radiation treatment system for receiving near real time image data of said treatment target and information representative of the position of said therapeutic radiation source,

wherein said controller is operatively connected to said robotic positioning device and is programmed to control the movement of said robotic positioning device to align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source.

53. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 52, wherein said robotic positioning device comprises:

a base member;

a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

a first arm having a first end rotatably attached to said plate member, and a second end;

a second arm having a first end rotatably attached to the second end of said first arm, and a second end; and

a supporting means for supporting said patient thereon, wherein said supporting means is rotatably attached to said second end of said second arm, whereby said supporting means is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom.

54. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 53, wherein said base member is rotatably mounted on a plinth.

55. A patient positioning assembly for aligning a target within a patient'"'"'s anatomy with respect to a therapeutic radiation treatment system, said therapeutic radiation treatment system including a treatment beam generator and an imaging system for generating one or more images of said target in near real time, said patient positioning assembly comprising:

a. a robotic positioning device for moving and supporting the patient during treatment, said robotic positioning device comprising supporting means for supporting said patient and a robot for moving said supporting means, wherein said robot is adapted to move said supporting means in at least five degrees of freedom;

b. a sensor system for sensing the position of said support means, and for generating data representative the position of said supporting means;

c. a controller for controlling the motion of said robotic positioning device in order to align said target with respect to said treatment beam generator, said controller comprising;

i) means for activating said imaging system so that said imaging system generates image data representative of at least one near real time image of said target, said image data containing information regarding the near real time position and orientation of said target with respect to a treatment coordinate system;

ii) means, responsive to said position data from said sensor system and said image data from said imaging system, for generating at least one motion command signal for implementing one or more corrective motions of said robotic positioning device, wherein said corrective motions of said robotic positioning device substantially align said target, as shown in said near real-time image data of said target, with said treatment beam generator.

56. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 55 further comprising user interface means for enabling the user to interactively participate in controlling the motion of the robotic positioning device.

57. A therapeutic radiation treatment system for treating a target in a patient, comprising:

i). a therapeutic radiation treatment apparatus comprising

a. a therapeutic radiation source for generating therapeutic radiation; and

b. an imaging system for generating image data representative of one or more near real time images of said target, said image data containing information regarding the near real time position of said target with respect to a treatment coordinate system;

ii). a patient positioning device for supporting and moving the patient during treatment, said patient positioning device comprising;

a. a base member;

b. a plate member rotatably mounted on said base member;

c. a first arm having a first end rotatably attached to said plate member, and a second end;

d. a second arm having a first end rotatably attached to the second end of said first arm, and a second end; and

e. a supporting means for supporting said patient thereon, wherein said supporting means is rotatably attached to said second end of said second arm, whereby said supporting means is capable of moving said patient in at least five degrees of freedom;

iii). a sensor system for sensing the position of said patient positioning device, and for generating data representative the position of said patient positioning device; and

iv). a controller operatively connected with said sensor system for receiving position data of said patient positioning device and operatively connected to said therapeutic radiation treatment apparatus for receiving near real time image data of said treatment target and information representative of the position of said therapeutic radiation source,

wherein said controller is operatively connected to said patient positioning device and is programmed to control the movement of said patient positioning device, responsive to said position data from said sensor system, said image data and the position information of said therapeutic radiation source from said therapeutic radiation treatment apparatus, to align said treatment target with said therapeutic radiation source.

58. A therapeutic radiation treatment system according to claim 57, wherein said therapeutic radiation treatment apparatus is a gantry-based treatment system.

59. A therapeutic radiation treatment system according to claim 57, wherein said therapeutic radiation treatment apparatus is a robot-based treatment system.

60. A patient positioning assembly according to claim 57, wherein said base member is rotatably mounted on a plinth.