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EP-4419200-B1 - SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR OPTIMIZED RADIATION THERAPY

EP4419200B1EP 4419200 B1EP4419200 B1EP 4419200B1EP-4419200-B1

Inventors

  • DEMPSEY, JAMES F.
  • KAWRYKOW, IWAN

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20221020

Claims (15)

  1. A non-transitory, machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one programmable processor, cause the at least one programmable processor to perform operations comprising: automatically recalling imaging parameters from computer memory for controlling an MRI system to perform treatment-day scans of a patient on a treatment couch prior to treatment; sensing a treatment-day scanning trigger being sensing that the patient is positioned at isocenter or a sensor indicating a door to a treatment room is closed, automatically initializing the treatment-day scans based on sensing the treatment-day scanning trigger, controlling the MRI system to perform the treatment-day scans according to the recalled imaging parameters; automatically generating at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan; displaying predicted doses to anatomical structures of the patient based on the at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan; and controlling a radiation therapy device to deliver radiation according to a selected radiation treatment plan.
  2. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the automatic initializing of the treatment-day scans is based on a sensor indicating a door to a treatment room is closed.
  3. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, the automatically generating of the at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan further comprising: performing autocontouring of the anatomical structures of the patient; computing a relative electron density map; computing a 3D patient table shift; and calculating the predicted doses to the anatomical structures.
  4. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, the automatically generating of the at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan further comprising: generating reoptimized radiation treatment plans based on modifying treatment plan generation parameters, the generating stopping when one of the reoptimized treatment plans meets a treatment prescription or when a predetermined number of reoptimized radiation treatment plans are generated.
  5. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising: receiving input changing one or more features of the at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan; and automatically recalculating the at least one reoptimized radiation treatment plan based on the changed features.
  6. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising: automatically calculating and displaying information for controlling the radiation therapy device based on the imaging.
  7. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the information comprises one or more of: imaging dimensionality, imaging parameters, tissue-tracking boundaries type and generation parameters, and tissue-tracking algorithm parameters.
  8. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization.
  9. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization includes generation of a new reoptimized radiation treatment plan, or modification of one of the automatically generated reoptimized radiation treatment plane(s).
  10. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization includes enabling clinicians to perform different reoptimization tasks simultaneously.
  11. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization includes enabling multiple clinicians to perform autocontouring simultaneously.
  12. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization includes enabling clinicians to attempt different reoptimization strategies simultaneously.
  13. The machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein providing for additional treatment plan reoptimization includes the system receiving user input modifying one or more of the reoptimized radiation treatment plane(s).
  14. The machine-readable medium of claim 13, the operations further comprising: moving an imaging plane included in the one or more of the reoptimized radiation treatment plan(s) based on the user input; and updating the one or more of the reoptimized radiation treatment plan(s) based on a new location of the imaging plane.
  15. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising: receiving user input modifying one or more of tracking parameters, dose parameters, structure shapes, or boundary parameters utilized by the system when controlling the radiation therapy device to deliver the radiation.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Radiation therapy involves delivering radiation dose to a patient at a specific location to treat tissue, most typically cancerous tissue or tumors. To deliver radiation mainly to the target tissue and avoid irradiating healthy tissue, radiation beams are shaped and delivered in particular sequences and from particular directions according to a radiation treatment plan. In particular, optimization processes are used to mathematically determine the best radiation delivery parameters for the radiation treatment plan based on a radiation prescription determined by clinicians, patient imaging, radiotherapy device capabilities, etc. In some cases, the delivery of radiation can be guided by imaging prior to and/or during therapy and treatment plans can be improved through reoptimization. US 2016/228728A1 describes Magnetic resonance (MR) guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) that enables control over the delivery of radiation based on patient motion indicated by MR imaging (MRI) images captured during radiation delivery. A method for MRgRT includes: simultaneously using one or more radiation therapy heads to deliver radiation and an MRI system to perform MRI; using a processor to determine whether one or more gates are triggered based on at least a portion of MRI images captured during the delivery of radiation; and in response to determining that one or more gates are triggered based on at least a portion of the MRI images captured during the delivery of radiation, suspending the delivery of radiation. EP1725166A2 discloses a device and a process for performing high temporal and spatial resolution MR imaging of the anatomy of a patient during intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to directly measure and control the highly conformal ionizing radiation dose delivered to the patient for the treatment of diseases caused by proliferative tissue disorders. This invention combines the technologies of open MRI, multileaf-collimator or compensating filter-based IMRT delivery, and cobolt teletherapy into a single co-registered and gantry mounted system. US 2018/369611A1 describes systems and methods for adapting and/or updating radiotherapy treatment plans based on biological and/or physiological data and/or anatomical data extracted or calculated from imaging data acquired in real-time (e.g., during a treatment session). Functional imaging data acquired at the time of radiation treatment is used to modify a treatment plan and/or dose delivery instructions to provide a prescribed dose distribution to patient target regions. Also described are methods for evaluating treatment plans based on imaging data acquired in real-time. A further relevant document is formed by US 2016/228728 A1. SUMMARY The invention is set out in the appended set of claims. A machine-readable medium encoded with the computer software relating to improved radiotherapy planning and treatment is disclosed. Methods of treatment of a patient mentioned hereinafter do not form part of the present invention. In one aspect, imaging parameters can be automatically recalled from computer memory for controlling an MRI system to perform treatment-day scans of a patient prior to treatment. The treatment-day scans can then be automatically initialized and the MRI system can be controlled to perform the treatment-day scans according to the recalled imaging parameters. A reoptimized radiation treatment plan can then be automatically generated, and predicted doses to anatomical structures of the patient based on the reoptimized radiation treatment plan can be displayed. In some implementations, prescription doses to anatomical structures can be displayed concurrently with the displaying of predicted doses. Finally, a radiation therapy device can be controlled to deliver radiation according to a selected radiation treatment plan. In some variations, the automatic initialization of the treatment-day scans can be based on a sensor indicating that a door to a treatment room is closed or the patient being sensed as being positioned at isocenter. In some embodiments, the disclosed systems, methods, and software can provide for additional treatment plan reoptimization, including generation of a new reoptimized radiation treatment plan or modification of one of the automatically generated reoptimized radiation treatment plane(s). Furthermore, the disclosed systems, methods and software can enable clinicians to perform different reoptimization tasks simultaneously including through parallel workflow interfaces. This can include, for example, enabling multiple clinicians to perform autocontouring simultaneously or enabling clinicians to attempt different reoptimization strategies simultaneously. In yet other variations, an imaging plane can be moved based on user input and a reoptimized radiation treatment plan can be updated based on a new location of the imaging plane. Certain embodiments also allow for the receipt of user input modifying tra