Intuitive automation in patient modeling
Granted: March 24, 2020
Patent Number:
10600514
To overcome the difficulties inherent in conventional treatment planning approaches, new techniques are described herein for providing an intuitive user interface for automatic structure derivation in patient modeling. In an embodiment, a graphical user interface is provided that provides a list of structures of a specified region. The interface uses medical terminology instead of mathematical one. In one or more embodiments, the list of structures may be a pre-defined list of structures…
Methods and apparatus for the planning and delivery of radiation treatments
Granted: March 24, 2020
Patent Number:
10595774
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…
Method and apparatus for using patient-experience outcomes when developing radiation-therapy treatment plans
Granted: March 17, 2020
Patent Number:
10589127
A control circuit has access to information that correlates a plurality of patient-experience outcomes with corresponding delivered-radiation metrics and uses that plurality of patient-experience outcomes in conjunction with developing a radiation-therapy treatment plan for a particular patient. Those patient-experience outcomes can comprise, for example, information regarding how various patients fared post-radiation treatment as regards such things as post-radiation treatment life…
Contouring tool having automatic interpolation and extrapolation
Granted: March 10, 2020
Patent Number:
10586402
An apparatus and method for generating a contour automatically based on one or more user-generated contours for a three dimensional (3D) structure. In one aspect, a method of integrating image contour generation and editing with contour interpolation and contour extrapolation is provided. Manual contour drawing and editing may be performed by a user while interpolation and/or extrapolation of contours is automatically calculated in the background. Results of the interpolation and/or…
Mitigation of interplay effect in particle radiation therapy
Granted: March 10, 2020
Patent Number:
10583313
The present disclosure relates to a new scan technique for particle radiation therapy that may be used for cancer treatment. One embodiment relates to a method of mitigating interplay effect in particle radiation therapy in a moving target including a period of movement, where the particle radiation therapy defines a planned dose in each spot of each layer of the moving target. The method comprising dividing the planned dose in each spot into a number of spot repaintings; and generating…
Method and apparatus pertaining to radiation-treatment plan optimization
Granted: February 18, 2020
Patent Number:
10561858
A radiation-treatment plan that comprises a plurality of dose-delivery fractions can be optimized by using fraction dose objectives and at least one other, different dose objective. This use of fraction dose objectives can comprise accumulating doses delivered in previous dose-delivery fractions. The other, different dose objective can comprise a remaining total dose objective, a predictive dose objective, or some other dose objective of choice. An existing radiation-treatment plan…
Systems and methods for treating a skin condition using radiation
Granted: February 11, 2020
Patent Number:
10556129
A medical device for treating a skin of a patient includes: a radiation source configured to provide radiation; a collimator coupled to the radiation source; and an optical device for viewing a target area on the skin when a distal end of the medical device is covering the skin. A method of treating a skin of a patient includes: providing a treatment device having a distal end, a radiation source, and a collimator, wherein the distal end is configured for placement over the skin of the…
Knowledge based treatment planning corrected for biological effects
Granted: February 11, 2020
Patent Number:
10556125
Solutions are provided herein that specifically accounts for biological effects of tissue during radiation planning (such as treatment planning). In one or more embodiments, the biological effects may be calculated by accessing a knowledge base to determine reference data comprising at least one biological characteristic corresponding to the at least one organ, predicting a biological effect for the plurality of identified structures based on the biological characteristic corresponding…
Geometric aspects of radiation therapy planning and treatment
Granted: February 4, 2020
Patent Number:
10549117
Radiation treatment planning includes determining a number of beams to be directed into a target, determining directions (e.g., gantry angles) for the beams, and determining an energy level for each of the beams. The number of beams, the directions of the beams, and the energy levels are determined such that the beams do not overlap outside the target and the prescribed dose will be delivered across the entire target.
Method and apparatus pertaining to optimizing a radiation-treatment plan by permitting non-coincidental isocenters
Granted: February 4, 2020
Patent Number:
10549119
A control circuit utilizes patient information and treatment-platform information to optimize a radiation-treatment plan by permitting isocenters of various radiation-treatment fields as comprise parts of a same treatment plan to not be coincidental with one another to thereby yield an optimized treatment plan. The patient information can pertain to one or more physical aspects of the patient as desired. By one approach, the foregoing can comprise scattering the isocenters of the various…
Electromagnetic interference containment for accelerator systems
Granted: January 28, 2020
Patent Number:
10546711
An apparatus for coupling to an input connection of an electron gun, the input connection having a heater terminal and a cathode terminal, includes: a connector having a first end and a second end; wherein the first end of the connector is configured to attach to a cable; wherein the second end of the connector is configured to connect to the input connection of the electron gun; and wherein the connector comprises an opening configured to receive the heater terminal of the input…
Particle therapy systems, devices, and methods for beam transportation
Granted: January 14, 2020
Patent Number:
10532229
A beam transport assembly conveys a particle beam from a particle source to an irradiation nozzle, which rotates about a swivel axis at the horizontal input of the nozzle. A support can move horizontally in a plane perpendicular to the swivel axis. The beam transport assembly can change a path length of the particle beam so as to follow a vertical location of the swivel axis of the irradiation nozzle with respect to the support. A controller can coordinate the path length change of the…
Methods and systems for image artifacts reduction
Granted: January 7, 2020
Patent Number:
10524756
One example method to reduce image artifacts, which may include obtaining measured projection data acquired using an imaging system. The measured projection data is associated with a target object and an artifact source within a radiation field of the imaging system. The method may also include generating virtual projection data associated with the artifact source by forward projecting a model representing one or more physical properties of the artifact source. The method may further…
Methods to optimize coverage for multiple targets simultaneously for radiation treatments
Granted: December 24, 2019
Patent Number:
10512791
A cost function is constructed so as to guide an optimization process to achieve similar coverage for all targets simultaneously in a concurrent radiation treatment of multiple targets, so that a single scaling factor may be used in a plan normalization to achieve the desired coverage for all the targets. The cost function includes a component that favors a solution that attains similar target coverages for all targets, as well as a component that favors a solution that approaches the…
Systems and methods for generating radiation treatment plans
Granted: December 24, 2019
Patent Number:
10512790
Target values for quality metrics associated with the radiation treatment plan are accessed. Cost function contours are generated; each of the cost function contours includes a respective first set of values of the quality metrics calculated with a respective cost function based on a respective one of the target values. A region that includes a second set of values of the quality metrics is defined; the region is bounded by the cost function contours. A final (optimized) radiation…
Patient-mounted or patient support-mounted camera for position monitoring during medical procedures
Granted: December 17, 2019
Patent Number:
10510161
An apparatus for use in a medical procedure includes: a camera configured for attachment to a patient, wherein the camera is configured to detect one or more markers outside and away from the patient; and a processing unit configured to receive an input image from the camera, and to process the input image to monitor a position of a target associated with the patient during the medical procedure. An apparatus for use in a medical procedure includes: a camera configured for attachment to…
Imaging based calibration systems, devices, and methods
Granted: December 17, 2019
Patent Number:
10507339
Systems, devices, and methods for imaging-based calibration of radiation treatment couch position compensations.
Compensating for leakage radiation in MLC modulated treatment
Granted: December 10, 2019
Patent Number:
10500417
A treatment planning method and system for determining a treatment plan used to irradiate a treatment volume using a radiation treatment system that includes a multi-leaf collimator (MLC), is disclosed. The treatment plan includes settings for leaf patterns of individual leaves of the MLC, each leaf pattern including a geometry of the individual leaves and forming an aperture for use in the treatment plan. Areas of radiation leakage are identified in each of the leaf patterns, the areas…
Radiation shields for LINAC head and system
Granted: December 10, 2019
Patent Number:
10500419
In a method of constructing a head shield for a radiation machine, the angular distribution of radiation propagating from a source and the angular function of thickness of a material in attenuating the radiation to a certain level of its original value are determined. Based on the angular distribution of radiation from the source and the angular function of thickness of the material, the thicknesses of the material at a plurality of angular locations around the source and distances from…
System and method for patient-specific motion management for treatment
Granted: December 10, 2019
Patent Number:
10500418
An apparatus for assisting a selection of motion management technique for use with a treatment machine having an energy source, comprises: one or more input for obtaining motion trace of a target to be treated, and/or for obtaining motion data of a fiducial; and a motion management processor configured to determine motion management data based at least in part on at least a portion of the motion trace of the target and/or at least a portion of the motion data of the fiducial, wherein the…
