Method for Fiducial-less Real-time Tracking in Radiation Treatment of Abdominal Tumors

Abstract

A method for fiducial-less real-time motion tracking of abdominal tumors based on the correlation between the patient's breathing pattern and the diaphragm / lung border during treatment delivery. This invention utilizes an edge detection technique to delineate the diaphragm / lung border on radiographic images in order to calculate or determine tumor locations in the abdomen. The position of the diaphragm / lung border is synchronized with the breathing pattern obtained from continuous optical monitoring of a patient's respiratory cycle. The real-time optical breathing pattern obtained from monitoring is used to determine or calculate the position of the diaphragm / lung border during treatment delivery. The position of the diaphragm / lung border is then used to determine the tumor location in real-time. The target tumor coordinates generated through this process are used by the treatment delivery system to adjust the radiation beam geometry of the treatment delivery system to follow the tumor in real-time and accurately deliver radiation dose.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 814,772 filed on Apr. 22, 2013. The entire disclosure of this prior application is hereby incorporated by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]This invention has been created without the sponsorship or funding of any federally sponsored research or development program.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]The present invention relates generally to external beam radiation treatment of abdominal tumors with increased accuracy in light of normal organ and respiratory motion during treatment delivery.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]Radiation therapy has been one of the three effective treatment modalities in cancer management. It has been a current technical endeavor to further improve radiation treatment efficacy by increasing targeting accuracy, i.e. the delivery of radiation doses directly to the target tumor while limiting the damag...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method for accurately tracking the location of abdominal tumors, such as liver and pancreatic tumors, during treatment delivery without the need for a fiducial marker. This is achieved by using a non-volumetric image of the diaphragm / lung border synchronized with the patient's breathing pattern to determine tumor position in real-time. This increases the accuracy of radiation delivery to abdominal tumors and predicts the precise location of the tumor to improve treatment outcomes.

Problems solved by technology

One of the major challenges in this endeavor is the movement or motion of a tumor due to normal respiration during radiation treatment delivery.

On the other hand, non-invasive techniques for real-time tumor tracking has been actively sought after for treatment of sensitive areas such as the lung, which has historically been challenging.

Fiducial-less real-time motion tracking for abdominal tumors, such as liver tumors and pancreatic tumors, however remains a challenge, where no commercial, practical solution is currently available for clinical use.

One of the main contributing factors to the difficulties of fiducial-less motion tracking of abdominal tumors is the inability to visualize abdominal tumors in non-volumetric types of radiographic images.

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