Radiation therapy planning and tracking system using large bore nuclear and magnetic resonance imaging or large bore ct and magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

A radiation therapy planning and tracking system (10) includes an MR scanner (12) having a first bore (16) defining an MR imaging region (18) and a second chamber defining a nuclear or CT imaging region (36) A functional scanner (26) of the bore (30), such as a nuclear imaging scanner or a CT scanner. Said first and second chambers (16, 30) have a diameter of at least 70cm, preferably 80-85cm. The radiation therapy couch (90) moves linearly along the MR longitudinal axis through the MR imaging region (18), and along the nuclear or CT longitudinal axis through the nuclear or CT imaging region (36), the nuclear or CT longitudinal axis is aligned with the MR longitudinal axis. The couch sequentially positions the subject within the MR and nuclear or CT imaging regions (18, 36). a fusion processor combines image representations generated by data collection within said MR imaging region (18) with image representations generated by data collection within said nuclear or CT imaging region (36) into a composite image representation, a planning processor ( 112) Generating a radiation therapy treatment plan from the composite image.

Description

technical field [0001] This application relates to image-guided radiation therapy planning. It is especially suitable for use in conjunction with multimodal radiation therapy planning. Background technique [0002] Radiation therapy is a common oncology treatment technique in which a dose or series of doses of high-energy gamma (gamma) radiation, particle beams, or other radiation is delivered to a patient or a targeted area of ​​a patient's body to achieve, for example, the eradication of Effects of treatment on cancerous tissue. Planning a radiation therapy session prior to radiation treatment based on one or more planning volume images for the purpose of defining the anatomical boundaries of the tumor and surrounding tissue to determine radiation beam parameters and dose distribution . Computed tomography (CT) scanners are commonly used in radiation therapy planning (RTP) because the imaging chamber is of sufficient size to accommodate large / flat radiation treatment co...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, MRI systems are limited by their bore size, which cannot comfortably accommodate larger than average patients and large RTP bed / table decks

Also, in some positioning / fixation situations, additional bore space (>70cm) is beneficial, but such extra space does not exist with current MR systems

Images