Varian Medical Systems International Ag

Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

Siemens Healthineers International Ag

Andres Graf

Stefan J Thieme-Marti

Qingxiang Ke

Hanspeter Felix

Matthias Oster

Christof Sidler

Angi Ye

Juha Kauppinen

Patrik Kunz

Joakim Pyyry

Michelle Marie Svatos

Mathias Lehmann

Herbert F Cattell

Stephen Thompson

Markus Oelhafen

Timo Berkus

Mika Miettinen

Susan Koehl

Steven Rose

Jeff Everett

Xiu Ting Zhuang

A computer-implemented method of performing radiation therapy on a target volume within an anatomical region of a patient includes: acquiring a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image of the region while the region is positioned in a first preliminary treatment location; reconstructing a current digital volume of the region based on the CBCT image of the region; generating a first beam's-eye-view of the region based on the current digital volume and an offset between the first preliminary treatment location and a reference treatment location; modifying the first beam's-eye-view of the region with one or more visual cues associated with a treatment field for the target volume; and displaying the first beam's-eye-view with the one or more visual cues.

Virtual portal image for treatment setup in a radiation therapy system

An image acquisition apparatus includes: a positioner controller communicatively coupled to a positioner, wherein the positioner controller is configured to generate a control signal to cause the positioner to rectilinearly translate a patient support relative to an imager, and/or to rectilinearly translate the imager relative to the patient support; an imaging controller configured to operate the imager to generate a first plurality of two-dimensional images for a patient while the patient is supported by the patient support, and while the positioner rectilinearly translates the patient support and/or the imager; and an image processing unit configured to obtain the first plurality of two-dimensional images and arrange the two-dimensional images relative to each other to obtain a first composite image.

Imaging systems and methods

A virtual beam's-eye view of a planning target volume is generated based on volumetric image data acquired immediately prior to radiation therapy by a radiation therapy system. The virtual beam's-eye view can then be displayed to confirm that, with the patient disposed in the current position, the planned beam-delivered treatment extends beyond the surface of the skin. In some embodiments, the virtual beam's-eye view can be displayed in conjunction with a beam's-eye view that is generated based on volumetric image data acquired during treatment planning, to create a blended beam's-eye view. In some embodiments, a field outline of a treatment beam can be superimposed on the blended beam's-eye view, thereby illustrating whether the planned beam-delivered treatment extends beyond the surface of the skin of the patient. The blended beam's-eye view can facilitate a manual confirmation process that verifies the planned beam-delivered treatment extends beyond the surface of the skin.

Virtual beam's-eye view imaging in radiation therapy for patient setup

A method for quantifying radiation beam conformity includes: obtaining first information regarding a prescribed aperture; obtaining second information regarding an actual aperture defined by components of a collimator; and determining, using a processing unit, a metric based on the first information regarding the prescribed aperture and the second information regarding the actual aperture, wherein the metric indicates an amount of over-exposed aperture area, an amount of under-exposed aperture area, or both, and wherein the processing unit comprises one or more input for receiving the first and second information, and comprises a metric determination module configured to determine the metric based on the first information and the second information.

Systems and methods for quantifying radiation beam conformity

A radiation-treatment plan to treat a treatment target in a given patient takes into account imaging-based dosing of that patient by, for example, automatically accounting for radiation dosing of the given patient that results from imaging to determine at least one physical position of the given patient when forming the radiation-treatment plan. These teachings are particularly beneficial when applied in application settings where the aforementioned imaging comprises obtaining images using megavoltage-sourced radiation. By one approach these teachings provide for automatically accounting for radiation dosing of the given patient that results from imaging by, at least in part, automatically adjusting therapeutic dosing of the given patient as a function of the radiation dosing of the given patient that results from such imaging.

Accounting for imaging-based radiation doses

Disclosed are radiation treatment systems with enhanced control architectures that enable more complex treatment plans to be implemented, and radiation treatment systems with enhanced resistance to the effect of neutrons. An exemplary control architectures comprises: a digital packet network; a supervisor electrically coupled to the digital packet network and having a treatment plan; and a plurality of nodes, each node coupled to digital packet network and controlling one or more treatment-related components of the radiation treatment system; and wherein the supervisor periodically communicates control orders to the nodes over the digital packet network.

Radiation treatment systems

In one embodiment of the invention, a method for obtaining a tomogram of an anatomical structure is disclosed. In one step, an anatomical structure is scanned using a scanning source and a scanning detector. Both the scanning source and detector are connected to a gantry. In another step, the speed of the gantry is altered during the scanning process. Additionally or optionally the frame rate of the scan can be modified in such step. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the speed of the gantry is altered in synchronicity with the respiratory signal of a patient. Using such a method, a tomogram of an anatomical structure is obtained.

Variable-speed computed tomography scanning

A radiation device directs a beam of radiation onto a target. The beam can be adjusted using, for example, a control for setting beam shape and a control for setting beam intensity. The target is supported on a surface that can be adjusted using, for example, a control for setting surface position and a control for setting a speed for moving the surface. Controls are selected to adjust the beam and the surface cooperatively in order to compensate for movement of the target.

Multi-axis dynamic tracking for radiation therapy

Growing community of inventors

Oberwil, Switzerland

Andres Graf