Methods and apparatus for the planning and delivery of radiation treatments
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
- defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject;
specifying an initial plurality of control points along an initial trajectory which involves relative movement between a radiation source and the subject;
iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the initial plurality of control points; and
upon reaching one or more initial termination conditions;
adding one or more additional control points to obtain an increased plurality of control points;
iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution relative to the set of optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the increased plurality of control points.
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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.
79 Citations
70 Claims
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1. A method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; specifying an initial plurality of control points along an initial trajectory which involves relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the initial plurality of control points; and upon reaching one or more initial termination conditions; adding one or more additional control points to obtain an increased plurality of control points; iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution relative to the set of optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the increased plurality of control points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; determining a radiation delivery plan; while effecting relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject comprises varying at least one of an intensity of the radiation beam and a shape of the radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; wherein effecting relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory comprises one or more of;
effecting non-planar relative movement between the radiation source and the subject;
effecting continuous relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory;
effecting non-self-overlapping relative movement between the radiation source and the subject;
wherein a start of the trajectory and an end of the trajectory comprise the same relative position between the radiation source and the subject and effecting otherwise non-self-overlapping relative movement between the radiation source and the subject; and
moving a plurality of motion axes of a radiation delivery apparatus.- View Dependent Claims (56)
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57. A method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; defining an initial trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject and an initial plurality of control points along the initial trajectory; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals and subject to one or more initial optimization constraints to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points; wherein the one or more radiation delivery parameters comprise a position of the radiation source relative to the subject and wherein iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution comprises defining an optimized trajectory for relative movement between the radiation source and the subject on the basis of the radiation delivery parameters.
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58. A method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; defining a trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject and a plurality of control points along the trajectory; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals and subject to one or more initial optimization constraints to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points; wherein iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points comprises simulating a dose contribution for at least one particular control point by; dividing a cross-sectional area of a beam-shape aperture into a plurality of two-dimensional beamlets; and simulating a dose distribution contribution from each of the plurality of two-dimensional beamlets; wherein at least two of the plurality of two-dimensional beamlets have different sizes. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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60. A method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; specifying a plurality of control points along a trajectory which involves relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the plurality of control points; and upon reaching one or more constraint-addition conditions, adding one or more optimization constraints to the iterative optimization to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the plurality of control points subject to the one or more optimization constraints.
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61. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory for relative movement between a treatment radiation source and the subject; determining a radiation delivery plan; while effecting 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 at least one of an intensity of the treatment radiation beam and a shape of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; obtaining two-dimensional projection images of the target area at a plurality of locations along the trajectory. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64)
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65. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a positional state of the subject; while effecting relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject comprises; varying at least one of an intensity of the radiation beam and a shape of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; deactivating delivery of the radiation beam upon sensing that the position of the subject is outside of an acceptable range; and reactivating delivery of the radiation beam upon sensing that the position of the subject is within the acceptable range. - View Dependent Claims (66)
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67. A method for delivering radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; determining a radiation delivery plan; sensing a positional state of the subject; while effecting relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, delivering a radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject according to the radiation delivery plan to impart a dose distribution on the subject, wherein delivering the radiation beam from the radiation source to the subject comprises; varying at least one of an intensity of the radiation beam and a shape of the treatment radiation beam over at least a portion of the trajectory; deactivating delivery of the radiation beam upon sensing that the position of the subject is outside of an acceptable range; and reactivating delivery of the radiation beam upon sensing that the position of the subject is within the acceptable range; and while effecting relative movement between the radiation source and the subject along the trajectory, obtaining two-dimensional projection images of the target area at a plurality of locations along the trajectory.
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68. A program product comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute a method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; specifying an initial plurality of control points along an initial trajectory which involves relative movement between a radiation source and the subject; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the initial plurality of control points; and upon reaching one or more initial termination conditions; adding one or more additional control points to obtain an increased plurality of control points; iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution relative to the set of optimization goals to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the increased plurality of control points.
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69. A program product comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute a method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; defining an initial trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject and an initial plurality of control points along the initial trajectory; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals and subject to one or more initial optimization constraints to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points; wherein the one or more radiation delivery parameters comprise a position of the radiation source relative to the subject and wherein iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution comprises defining an optimized trajectory for relative movement between the radiation source and the subject on the basis of the radiation delivery parameters.
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70. A program product comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute a method for planning delivery of radiation dose to a target area within a subject, the method comprising:
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defining a set of one or more optimization goals, the set of one or more optimization goals comprising a desired dose distribution in the subject; defining a trajectory for relative movement between a radiation source and the subject and a plurality of control points along the trajectory; iteratively optimizing a simulated dose distribution relative to the set of one or more optimization goals and subject to one or more initial optimization constraints to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points; wherein iteratively optimizing the simulated dose distribution to determine one or more radiation delivery parameters associated with each of the control points comprises simulating a dose contribution for at least one particular control point by; dividing a cross-sectional area of a beam-shape aperture into a plurality of two-dimensional beamlets; and simulating a dose distribution contribution from each of the plurality of two-dimensional beamlets; wherein at least two of the plurality of two-dimensional beamlets have different sizes.
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Specification