Varian Medical Systems Patent Grants

Radiotherapy methods, systems, and workflow-oriented graphical user interfaces

Granted: November 14, 2023
Patent Number: 11817210
Disclosed herein are radiotherapy methods and systems that can display a workflow-oriented graphical user interface(s). In an embodiment, a method comprises retrieving, by a server, information from a radiotherapy file associated with a patient, the information comprising an alignment data of at least a treatment region of the patient; presenting, by the server, for display on a graphical user interface, an image corresponding to the patient positioned on a couch of a radiotherapy…

Brachytherapy applicator formation method and apparatus

Granted: November 14, 2023
Patent Number: 11817199
A brachytherapy applicator is formed to use when administering therapeutic radiation to a particular patient's targeted area via brachytherapy. This process accesses image information for a patient that includes the targeted area and at least some adjacent non-targeted area. A control circuit uses that image information with prescribed dosing information for that patient to automatically generate a brachytherapy applicator design specifically to treat the particular patient's targeted…

Variable cryosurgical probe planning system

Granted: November 14, 2023
Patent Number: 11813013
A cryosurgical system including a computer system programmed with software configured to perform the following steps: a) capturing at least one first view of a region of interest in a human body; b) capturing at least one second view of the region of interest; c) outlining the region of interest and at least one area outside the region of interest with the assistance of an operator; d) constructing a 3-dimensional model of the region of interest and the at least one area outside the…

Radiotherapy methods, systems, and workflow-oriented graphical user interfaces

Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number: 11786756
Disclosed herein are radiotherapy methods and systems that can display a workflow-oriented graphical user interface(s). In an embodiment, a method comprises presenting, by a server, a graphical user interface for display on a screen positioned on a gantry of a radiotherapy machine, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a page corresponding to a radiotherapy treatment of a patient, wherein the page comprises a first graphical element indicating at least one attribute of alignment…

Radiotherapy methods, systems, and workflow-oriented graphical user interfaces

Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number: 11786757
Disclosed herein are radiotherapy methods and systems that can display a workflow-oriented graphical user interface(s). In an embodiment, a method comprises presenting, by a server, a graphical user interface for display on a screen positioned on a gantry of a radiotherapy machine, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a page corresponding to a radiotherapy treatment of a patient, wherein the page comprises a first graphical element indicating at least one attribute of alignment…

Systems, methods, and devices for real-time treatment verification using an electronic portal imaging device

Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number: 11786758
A radiation dose received by a patient from a radiation therapy system can be verified by acquiring a cine stream of image frames from an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) that is arranged to detect radiation exiting the patient during irradiation. The cine stream of EPID image frames can be processed in real-time to form exit images providing absolute dose measurements at the EPID (dose-to-water values), which is representative of the characteristics of the radiation received by…

Method and system for remote monitoring of proton beam emitting and delivery systems

Granted: October 10, 2023
Patent Number: 11785702
A remote diagnostic monitoring of operating states for physical components of a particle accelerator system includes generating, by at least one processor, a component hierarchy corresponding to a physical arrangement of one or more physical components of a particle emitting system and including corresponding operating indicators of operating states of the physical components, identifying, by the at least one processor, a faulted physical component among the physical components,…

Systems, methods, and devices for multi-energy x-ray imaging

Granted: October 3, 2023
Patent Number: 11771388
A system can have an x-ray source that generates a series of individual x-ray pulses for multi-energy imaging. A first x-ray pulse can have a first energy level and a subsequent second x-ray pulse in the series can have a second energy level different from the first energy level. An x-ray imager can receive the x-rays from the x-ray source and can detect the received x-rays for image generation. A generator interface box (GIB) controls the x-ray source to provide the series of individual…

Magnetoresistive linear position detection in a radiation therapy system

Granted: October 3, 2023
Patent Number: 11771924
A multileaf collimator includes a plurality of movable leaves for shaping a radiotherapy beam, wherein each leaf is independently movable in a same linear travel direction. Each leaf includes a linear array of magnets disposed on a measurement surface of the leaf and an array of magnetoresistive sensors that is disposed proximate the measurement surfaces of the leaves.

Methods of use of ultra-high dose rate radiation and therapeutic agent

Granted: October 3, 2023
Patent Number: 11771920
Methods for treating tumors by administering FLASH radiation and a therapeutic agent to a patient with cancer are disclosed. The methods provide the dual benefits of anti-tumor efficacy plus normal tissue protection when combining therapeutic agents with FLASH radiation to treat cancer patients. The methods described herein also allow for the classification of patients into groups for receiving optimized radiation treatment in combination with a therapeutic agent based on…

Geometric aspects of radiation therapy planning and treatment

Granted: September 26, 2023
Patent Number: 11766574
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.

Quality assurance process for radiation therapy treatment planning

Granted: September 26, 2023
Patent Number: 11766575
A method enables testing and evaluation of an expert human reviewer or an artificial intelligence (AI) error detection engine associated with a radiotherapy treatment planning process. Intentional errors are introduced into the output of a software module or AI engine that performs a certain step in the radiotherapy treatment planning process. The efficacy of the human or AI reviewer in detecting errors can then be evaluated or tested by determining whether the human or AI reviewer has…

Method and apparatus for using a multi-layer multi-leaf collimation system

Granted: September 19, 2023
Patent Number: 11759655
A multi-layer multi-leaf collimation system includes at least a two layers of collimation leaves. The first multi-leaf collimator layer is configured to primarily perform a first function to affect a radiation beam traveling from a radiation source to a target and a second multi-leaf collimator layer is configured to primarily perform a second function, different from the first function, to affect the radiation beam for the administration of a treatment plan.

Radiotherapy methods, systems, and workflow-oriented graphical user interfaces

Granted: September 19, 2023
Patent Number: 11759656
Disclosed herein are radiotherapy methods and systems that can display a workflow-oriented graphical user interface(s). In an embodiment, a method comprises presenting, by the server for display on a screen associated with a radiotherapy machine, a series of consecutive graphical user interfaces, wherein each graphical user interface displays one or more graphical components corresponding to one or more tasks of one or more stages of a patient's radiotherapy treatment; and when a user…

Apparatus to facilitate the administration of a knowledge-based radiation treatment plan

Granted: June 27, 2023
Patent Number: 11684800
A control circuit accesses information regarding a plurality of pre-existing vetted radiation treatment plans for a variety of patients and uses that information to train at least one model (such as a dose volume histogram estimation model). The control circuit then uses that model to develop estimates for a radiation treatment plan for a particular patient. The control circuit can then use those estimates to develop a candidate radiation treatment plan.

Method and apparatus for using a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator as a virtual flattening filter

Granted: June 20, 2023
Patent Number: 11679278
A photon source emits a flattening filter-free photon beam. A control circuit operably couples to a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator that is disposed between the photon source and a treatment area of a patient. The control circuit automatically arranges operation of some, but not all, of the layers of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator to serve as a virtual flattening filter with respect to the flattening filter-free photon beam emitted by the photon source. By one approach, another…

Dose aspects of radiation therapy planning and treatment

Granted: June 13, 2023
Patent Number: 11673003
Radiation treatment planning includes accessing values of parameters such as a number of beams to be directed into sub-volumes in a target, beam directions, and beam energies. Information that specifies limits for the radiation treatment plan are accessed. The limits include a limit on irradiation time for each sub-volume outside the target. Other limits can include a limit on irradiation time for each sub-volume in the target, a limit on dose rate for each sub-volume in the target, and…

Image contouring using spiking neural networks

Granted: June 13, 2023
Patent Number: 11676295
Disclosed herein are methods and system for training artificial intelligence models configured to execute image segmentation techniques. The methods and system describe a server that receives a first image including a set of pixels depicting multiple objects. The server also receives a second image having a second set of pixels depicting the same set of objects. The server then analyzes the pixels from the first and second images. When a difference between at least one visual attribute…

Template matching method for image-based detection and tracking of irregular shaped targets

Granted: June 6, 2023
Patent Number: 11669967
A method of generating a template image includes: receiving an input from a user representing identifications of an object in different respective slices of a volumetric image; using the input to determine a volume-of-interest (VOI) that includes voxels in a subset of the volumetric image; and determining the template image using at least some of the voxels in the VOI, wherein the act of determining the template image comprises performing a forward projection of the at least some of the…