Radiation treatment plan evaluation method and device

Abstract

The invention relates to a radiation treatment plan evaluation method and apparatus. The control circuitry accesses a plurality of radiation therapy plans and clinical goals corresponding to a radiation therapy plan for a particular patient. The control circuitry then utilizes a plurality of radiation therapy plans and clinical objectives within the plan evaluation workspace. The control circuit then presents the plan evaluation workspace display on the user interface. According to one method, the plan evaluation workspace may include a first region and a second region. The first region may discretely present each of the plurality of patient volumes. The second region may graphically present an extent to which the at least one clinical goal is implemented for each of the plurality of patient volumes currently considered, and an available clinical goal implementation solution space provided by the plan evaluation work area for at least some of the plurality of patient volumes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] These teachings typically involve the planned target volume of energy therapy for patients according to an energy-based treatment plan, and more specifically, they involve promoting the evaluation of energy-based treatment plans. Background Technology

[0002] The use of energy to treat disease encompasses the known areas of current technological efforts. For example, radiation therapy is a crucial component of many treatment programs used to reduce or eliminate harmful tumors. Unfortunately, the applied energy itself cannot distinguish between unwanted substances and neighboring tissues, organs, etc., which are necessary or even essential for the patient's continued survival. Therefore, energy such as radiation is usually applied cautiously, at least attempting to confine the energy within a given target volume. So-called radiation therapy programs typically contribute to this.

[0003] Radiation therapy plans typically include specified values ​​for each of the various treatment platform parameters during each of multiple consecutive fields. Treatment plans for radiation therapy treatments are often automatically generated through a process known as optimization. As used herein, "optimization" should be understood as improving candidate treatment plans, not necessarily ensuring that the optimized result is actually the best solution. This optimization typically involves automatically adjusting one or more physical therapy parameters (often while simultaneously observing one or more corresponding limitations of these aspects) and mathematically calculating possible corresponding treatment outcomes (e.g., dose levels) to identify a set of given treatment parameters that represent a good trade-off between desired treatment outcomes and avoiding adverse side effects.

[0004] Multi-criteria optimization methods are known and often require the computation or approximation of many solutions (e.g., a set of Pareto frontier programs of dozens to hundreds of programs), and often need to present a large amount of information well enough for users to be able to successfully select the most desirable outcome from such a set in an understandable way. Attached Figure Description

[0005] In particular, when conducting research in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the above-mentioned needs are at least partially met by providing the following detailed description of the radiation therapy plan evaluation methods and equipment, wherein:

[0006] Figure 1 Including block diagrams configured according to various embodiments of these teachings;

[0007] Figure 2 Includes flowcharts of various embodiments configured according to these teachings;

[0008] Figure 3 Including schematic diagrams of user interfaces configured according to various embodiments of these teachings;

[0009] Figure 4 Including screenshots configured according to various embodiments of these teachings;

[0010] Figure 5 Including screenshots configured according to various embodiments of these teachings;

[0011] Figure 6 Including screenshots configured according to various embodiments of these teachings; and

[0012] Figure 7 Including screenshots configured according to various embodiments of the present invention;

[0013] The elements in the accompanying drawings are exemplary for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the size and / or relative positioning of some elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements to aid in understanding the various embodiments of this teaching. Furthermore, to facilitate understanding of the various embodiments of this teaching, common but easily understood elements that are useful or necessary in commercially viable embodiments are generally not described. Certain actions and / or steps may be described or depicted according to a particular sequence of occurrence, but those skilled in the art will understand that such particularity regarding sequence is not actually necessary. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning that those skilled in the art would assign to such terms and expressions as described above, unless otherwise set forth in the present document. Unless otherwise expressly stated, “or” as used herein should be interpreted as having a disjunctive structure rather than a conjunctive structure. Detailed Implementation

[0014] Multi-criteria optimization / evaluation workspaces typically display sliders representing the working range of the corresponding treatment plan set. Each slider usually corresponds to several modifiable optimization / evaluation criteria, which users can interactively adjust. In a typical multi-criteria optimization / evaluation workspace, the relationship between these adjustable parameters and the corresponding clinical goals is usually indirect to facilitate radiation therapy planning. As an example, the currently selected result is typically displayed numerically in various locations on the user's screen. This depends on the user's own exploration to form a reasonable understanding of the current "position" within the distribution of the treatment plan set.

[0015] Generally, according to these different embodiments, control circuitry operatively coupled to the user interface is configured to access multiple radiation therapy plans and clinical goals corresponding to a specific patient's radiation therapy plan. The control circuitry can then utilize these multiple radiation therapy plans and clinical goals (e.g., to facilitate the output of an optimized specific radiation therapy plan for a particular patient) within a plan evaluation workspace.

[0016] The control circuitry can then present a planning evaluation workspace display on the user interface. According to one method, the planning evaluation workspace may include a first area and a second area. The first area may discretely present each of a plurality of patient volume quality indicators and the corresponding patient volume. The second area may graphically present the extent to which at least one clinical goal is achieved for each of the patient volumes (e.g., by a given radiation therapy plan) and the available clinical goal achievement solution space provided by the planning evaluation workspace for at least some of the patient volumes.

[0017] In one method, the aforementioned plan evaluation workspace can also display a graphical indicator of the current plan.

[0018] One method allows the aforementioned first region to discretely represent each of multiple patient volumetric mass indicators line-by-line. Another method, rather than the aforementioned method or in combination with it, allows the first region to represent multiple patient volumetric mass indicators in discrete groups separated by relative priority. If desired, this separation can be indicated at least partially by different backgrounds (e.g., backgrounds with different grayscale shading).

[0019] In one approach, the aforementioned second region has a first background treatment for typically marking portions representing unachieved clinical goals and a second background treatment, distinct from the first background treatment, for typically marking portions representing achieved clinical goals. If desired, the second region may include a third background treatment distinct from both the first and second background treatments, which may be used to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space (e.g., in a multi-criteria optimization workspace). These teachings will also adapt to graphically representing regions within portions representing unachieved clinical goals, but these regions constitute an acceptable variation of a corresponding clinical goal among the clinical goals. Furthermore, if desired, the second region may include scaling metrics to indicate the extent to which at least one clinical goal among the clinical goals has been achieved for each patient volume.

[0020] These features and various advantages may become clearer through a thorough review and study of the following detailed description. Refer now to the accompanying drawings and, in particular, to... Figure 1 First, we introduce an exemplary device 100 that is compatible with many of these teachings.

[0021] In this particular example, enabling device 100 includes control circuitry 101. Thus, as a “circuit,” control circuitry 101 includes a structure comprising at least one (and typically multiple) conductive paths (e.g., paths composed of conductive metals such as copper or silver) that deliver power in an ordered manner. These paths typically also include corresponding electrical components (which, depending on the situation, include passive components (e.g., resistors and capacitors) and active components (e.g., any of a variety of semiconductor-based devices)) to allow the circuitry to implement the control aspects of these teachings.

[0022] Such control circuitry 101 may include a fixed-purpose hardwired hardware platform (including, but not limited to, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) (which are custom-designed integrated circuits for a specific purpose rather than for general use), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.) or may include a partially or fully programmable hardware platform (including, but not limited to, microcontrollers, microprocessors, etc.). These architectural options for such a configuration are known and understood in the art and therefore do not need to be described further herein. The control circuitry 101 is configured (e.g., by using corresponding programming known to those skilled in the art) to perform one or more steps, actions, and / or functions described herein.

[0023] It should be recognized that the control circuit 101 may include a single integrated platform or may include multiple such circuits that work together.

[0024] Control circuitry 101 is operatively coupled to memory 102. Memory 102 may be integrated into control circuitry 101 or physically separated from control circuitry 101 (wholly or partially) as desired. Memory 102 may also be local to control circuitry 101 (e.g., both sharing a common circuit board, frame, power supply, and / or housing) or partially or wholly remote from control circuitry 101 (e.g., memory 102 is physically located in another facility, metropolitan area, or even country compared to control circuitry 101). Like control circuitry 101, memory 102 may comprise a single structure or may comprise multiple memory platforms that collectively constitute the “memory” of device 100.

[0025] In addition to information such as optimization information for specific patients and information about specific radiation therapy platforms as described herein, the memory 102 can also be used, for example, to non-transitory store computer instructions that, when executed by the control circuit 101, cause the control circuit 101 to operate as described herein. (As used herein, "non-transitory" should be understood to mean the non-transitory state of the stored content (and therefore excludes the case where the stored content constitutes only a signal or wave) rather than the volatility of the storage medium itself and therefore includes both non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)) and volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)).

[0026] The control circuit 101 is also operatively coupled to the user interface 103. The user interface 103 may include any of a variety of user input mechanisms (e.g., but not limited to keyboards and keypads, cursor control devices, touch-sensitive displays, voice recognition interfaces, gesture recognition interfaces, etc.) and / or user output mechanisms (e.g., but not limited to visual displays, audio sensors, printers, etc.) to facilitate receiving information and / or instructions from the user and / or providing information to the user.

[0027] If needed, the control circuitry 101 can also be operatively coupled to a network interface (not shown). With this configuration, the control circuitry 101 can communicate with other components (both internal and external to device 100) via the network interface. Network interfaces (including wireless and non-wireless platforms) are known in the art and therefore do not need to be specifically described herein.

[0028] By means of a method, computed tomography device 106 and / or other imaging device 107 known in the art can provide some or all of any desired patient-related imaging information.

[0029] In this exemplary example, control circuitry 101 can be configured to output an optimized energy-based treatment plan (e.g., an optimized radiation therapy plan 113). This energy-based treatment plan typically includes specified values ​​for each of various treatment platform parameters during each of multiple successive exposure fields. In this case, the energy-based treatment plan is generated through an optimization process, examples of which will be further provided herein.

[0030] In one method, control circuitry 101 can be operatively coupled to an energy-based treatment platform 114, which is configured to provide therapeutic energy 112 to a site having at least one treatment volume 105 and also having one or more organs at risk (in accordance with an optimized energy-based treatment plan 113). Figure 1The patient 104 corresponds to the first to Nth organs at risk (represented by organs 108 and 109). These teachings are generally applicable to a variety of energy-based therapeutic platforms / devices. In a typical application setting, the energy-based therapeutic platform 114 will include an energy source, such as a radiation source 115 of ionizing radiation 116.

[0031] By means of a method, the radiation source 115 can be selectively moved along an arcuate path via a gantry (wherein, during treatment, the path at least partially includes the patient themselves). The arcuate path may, as desired, comprise a complete or near-complete circle. By means of a method, control circuitry 101 controls the movement of the radiation source 115 along the arcuate path, and can accordingly control when the radiation source 115 begins to move, stops moving, accelerates, decelerates, and / or the speed at which the radiation source 115 moves along the arcuate path.

[0032] As an exemplary example, radiation source 115 may include, for example, an X-ray source based on a radio frequency (RF) linear particle accelerator (a linear accelerator). A linear accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that greatly increases the kinetic energy of charged subatomic particles or ions by subjecting charged particles to a series of oscillating potentials along a linear beamline, which can be used to generate ionizing radiation (e.g., X-rays) 116 and high-energy electrons.

[0033] A typical energy-based treatment platform 114 may also include one or more support devices 110 (e.g., a sofa) for supporting the patient 104 during treatment, one or more patient fixation devices 111, a gantry or other movable mechanism to allow selective movement of the radiation source 115, and one or more energy shaping devices (e.g., beam shaping devices 117, such as a beam limiter, multi-leaf collimator, etc.) to provide selective energy shaping and / or energy modulation as desired.

[0034] In a typical application setting, this document assumes that the patient support device 110 can be selectively controlled to move in any direction (i.e., any X, Y, or Z direction) during an energy-based treatment session via control circuitry 101. Since the foregoing components and systems are known in the art, no further elaboration on these aspects is provided herein unless relevant to the description.

[0035] Now for reference Figure 2The following describes a process 200 that can be executed, for example, in conjunction with the application settings described above (and more specifically via the aforementioned control circuitry 101). Generally, this process 200 can be used to facilitate the output of an optimized radiation therapy plan 113, thereby facilitating therapeutic radiation therapy on a specific patient using a specific radiation therapy platform according to the optimized radiation therapy plan. More specifically, and for illustrative purposes, this process 200 can be used to facilitate a multi-criteria optimization process. That is, these teachings are also more generally applicable to comparing any existing plans (even if there is currently no intention to optimize one or more plans) or evaluating the quality of a single plan.

[0036] At block 202, the process 200 provides control circuitry 101 with access to multiple radiation therapy plans 201 (e.g., by accessing the aforementioned memory 102). These radiation therapy plans, in this example, all involve treating the same given patient for the same condition (e.g., a tumor). Generally, multi-criteria optimization employs more than one objective function to optimize each other simultaneously. In typical application settings, at least two of these objective functions conflict with each other. Therefore, optimizing radiation therapy plans in this manner typically involves trade-offs between two or more conflicting objectives. (Multi-criteria optimization is known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0072221 (titled “KNOWLEDGE BASED MULTI-CRITERIA OPTIMIZATION FOR RADIOTHERAPY TREATMENT PLANNING”), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, further details of these aspects are generally not provided herein.)

[0037] At block 204, control circuitry 101 accesses the clinical target corresponding to the radiation therapy plan for the specific patient described above (again, and for example, by accessing memory 102 described above). A clinical target refers to, for example, the treatment goal prescribed by the attending oncologist for that specific patient. Examples of clinical targets include, but are not limited to, targets regarding the dose distribution to be achieved concerning the target volume, one or more organs at risk (OARs) near the target volume, or other designated or undesignated normal tissues. Essentially, clinical targets are generally independent of which physical radiation therapy platform is used to administer radiation.

[0038] It is important to clarify that clinical goals are not optimization goals. Optimization goals provide a measurement method by which the optimization process can test or ensure, for example, that a specific, designated dose is administered uniformly across the target volume of the patient while avoiding inappropriate doses to other patient tissues (or, in other cases, satisfying a series of dose histograms that specify acceptable dose ranges at various locations within and outside the target volume). Optimization goals will be understood as goals that are highly specifically designed to reflect and accommodate the technical details and specifications of a particular radiation therapy platform, specific details regarding patient performance, and / or other physical details relevant to a particular application setup.

[0039] It should be recognized that these teachings are highly flexible in practice. As an example of these aspects, they can be beneficially applied when clinical goals other than those prescribed. For instance, these teachings will be applicable to accessing virtually any type of evaluation metric used as part of a clinician's or planner's review of a given treatment plan. Such evaluation metrics can include a variety of quality indicators, which may be defined by physicists or automatically by the system, for example. An example of these aspects is an indicator representing / corresponding to the motion complexity of a multi-leaf collimator. Therefore, it should be understood that the expression "clinical goal" as used herein can refer to both prescribed and non-prescribed clinical goals.

[0040] At block 205, control circuitry 101 utilizes multiple radiation therapy plans 201 and clinical goals 203 within the planning evaluation workspace. As described above, these teachings will work well in various planning evaluation workspaces. For illustrative purposes and without intending to impose any limitations in this regard, this specification generally assumes that the planning evaluation workspace comprises a multi-criteria optimization workspace.

[0041] At box 206 and refer to Figure 3 The control circuit 101 (in this example via the user interface 103 described above) presents the plan evaluation workspace display 300. Generally, the plan evaluation workspace display 300 includes a first area 301 and a second area 302. These teachings are expected to be adapted to the inclusion of other areas as well.

[0042] The aforementioned first region 301 is used to discretely present each of the multiple patient volumetric mass indexes 303 (in Figure 3The diagram illustrates patient volume mass indices 1 to N (where "N" includes integers greater than 1). Each associated patient volume corresponding to these patient volume mass indices 303 may include target volumes and / or non-target volumes (e.g., organs at risk). By a method, these patient volume mass indices 303 include the aforementioned clinical targets 203 (and / or acceptable variations of these targets) corresponding to each such patient volume.

[0043] If needed, the aforementioned patient volume mass index 303 can be presented line by line. For example, this information can be presented column by column, row by row (as illustrated), or in another selected line-by-line orientation. Other presentation configurations can also be adapted as desired.

[0044] By means of a method and as illustrated, the first region 301 can present multiple patient volumetric quality indicators 303 in discrete groups 304 separated by relative priority. This separation can be represented in various ways, including by appropriate use of color, highlighting, icons, etc. By means of a method, the separation and grouping are indicated by using different backgrounds (e.g., different backgrounds tinted with different grayscale).

[0045] The aforementioned second region 302 graphically presents (1) the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals 203 is achieved for each corresponding patient volume (e.g., by a given radiation therapy plan) and (2) the available clinical goal achievement solution space provided by the plan evaluation work area 300 for at least some patient volumes.

[0046] To support the above objectives, the second region 302 may have a first background treatment 305 for generally marking portions representing unachieved clinical goals and a second background treatment 306, different from the first background treatment 305, for generally marking portions representing achieved clinical goals.

[0047] If desired, these teachings will also support the provision of a third background treatment 307, distinct from the first background treatment 305 and the second background treatment 306, to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space (the latter in...). Figure 3 (This is for illustrative purposes only). In a typical application setting, the available solution space for achieving clinical goals may vary depending on the patient's volumetric mass index 303.

[0048] Instead of or in conjunction with the foregoing, these teachings may, if desired, further support the graphical representation of regions 308 within section 305 representing unachieved clinical goals, though these regions 308 shall still constitute an acceptable variation of a corresponding clinical goal in clinical goal 203.

[0049] These teachings are highly flexible in practice and will be adapted to various modifications and / or supplementary features. As an example in this regard, the second region 302 may also include scaling indicators to indicate the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals 203 is achieved for each of the multiple patient volumes.

[0050] More details regarding compliance with these teachings will now be presented. It should be understood that the specific details of these examples are intended to be illustrative and are not intended to imply any particular limitation regarding these teachings.

[0051] Figure 4 A user interface 103 is depicted, which presents a plan evaluation workspace display 300, which in this exemplary example includes a multi-criteria optimization workspace for developing radiation therapy plans. The aforementioned first area 301 is located on the left side of the plan evaluation workspace display 300, and the second area 302 is located on the right side.

[0052] Referring to the first region 301, the information for each of the multiple patient volume mass indicators 303 includes the corresponding patient volume (e.g., “PTV_5600” referring to a specific target volume and “spinal cord_05” referring to a non-target volume), the corresponding clinical target for that patient volume (e.g., a dose of V56 Gy for at least 95% of the PTV_5600 target volume), acceptable variations from the clinical target (where applicable), and identification information of the dose values ​​achieved in the initial plan. In this example, the multiple patient volume mass indicators 303 are presented in a line-by-line manner (in this case, in a row-by-row manner).

[0053] The first region 301 also groups the aforementioned patient volume mass index 303 into discrete groups 304 according to their corresponding priorities. In this exemplary example, the discrete group 304 with the highest priority is located at the top, with priorities gradually decreasing until the lowest priority group 304 is reached at the bottom of the first region 301. To help users easily perceive these discrete groups 304, different background treatments can be presented for each such group 304. In this example, the background treatments include different grayscale shading from group to group. These teachings will easily support various other methods in these aspects. Examples include, but are not limited to, different colors, different images, different fonts or font modifications, etc.

[0054] In this example, for each of the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators 303, the achieved dose value is presented in the rightmost column. Ideally, for a given patient volumetric mass indicator among the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators 303, values ​​that meet or exceed clinical goals can be visually distinguished from values ​​that do not meet clinical goals. For example, a green background could be used after values ​​that meet / exceed the corresponding clinical goals, and a red background after values ​​that fail in these respects.

[0055] Referring to the second region 302, in this exemplary example, to the left of the second region 302 is the aforementioned first background treatment 305 (e.g., red background color treatment), and to the right of the second region 302 is the aforementioned second background treatment 306 (e.g., green background color treatment). These two regions are separated / defined by a line 401, which represents the clinical target for each patient volume. The current planning indicator line 402, in turn, indicates the achieved value of each of the multiple patient volume quality indicators 303 relative to the corresponding clinical target for each patient volume. In this example, it is readily apparent that the clinical target has been achieved for some (but not all) of the patient volumes, as a portion of the current planning indicator line 402 lies to the right of the aforementioned dividing line 401, while other portions lie to the left of it.

[0056] exist Figure 4 In the diagram, the dashed line also defines the area with a third background treatment 307, which is used to depict the available, unrestricted solution space for achieving clinical goals. This visual depiction of the unrestricted solution space can be very helpful to viewers / users when considering whether and how to adjust plan parameters / selections while searching for a better-performing plan. One approach is to make the third background treatment 307 a visually different and contrasting color from the background of the first background treatment 305 or the second background treatment 306. For example, if the first background treatment 305 is red and the second background treatment 306 is green, the third background treatment 307 could be a color such as purple, blue, gray, or white.

[0057] Figure 4It also includes two regions 308 indicated by crosshairs. These two regions 308 represent areas located within the region of the first background treatment 305 representing an unachieved clinical goal, but these regions still constitute areas representing an acceptable variation from a corresponding clinical goal. (As mentioned above, the first region 301 of the planning evaluation work area display 300 may include information regarding acceptable variations (if present) from the corresponding clinical goal for at least some of the multiple patient volume mass indicators 303. The two regions 308 in this example correspond to a specific patient volume with such variation information.)

[0058] Figure 5 The presentation can include some other properties as desired. For example, these further properties are related to... Figure 4 The examples presented are shown in combination.

[0059] In this exemplary example, a series of indicators 501 are presented at the top of the second area 302. In this example, these indicators 501 indicate specific percentage values ​​(i.e., percentages of the corresponding clinical target for each of the multiple patient volume mass indicators 303) indicating whether the plan has been achieved or not. By way of a method, and as an example, the corresponding scale 502 can refer to the clinical target for PTV-5600 patient volume appearing in the first row 503. This clinical target is V56Gy > 95%, and the aforementioned scale 502 indicates that the current plan has achieved 95.55% of the result. By way of a method, these teachings can be adapted to provide such a display based on the user hovering the cursor over each patient volume mass indicator 303 on an indicator-by-indicator basis.

[0060] This exemplary example also includes a series of horizontal bars 503. In particular, in this example, such horizontal bars 503 exist for each of the plurality of patient volume mass indicators 303. Each horizontal bar provides a graphical description of the available solution space (relative to the unrestricted solution space represented by the region of the third background treatment 307) for each patient volume.

[0061] Figure 6This illustrates how these instructions can be used in conjunction with the bookmarking feature. The user-accessible bookmark menu 601 provides an "Add Bookmark" button 602, allowing the user to mark (i.e., save) a specific plan while continuing to adjust for testing / considering one or more additional plans. In this example, there are three such bookmarks. The first bookmark is for the "Initial Plan," which generates the current plan indicator line 402 described above. "Bookmark 1" corresponds to the first modification and has a corresponding dashed line 603 in this example. "Bookmark 2" corresponds to the second modification. The final plan result for the second modification is not shown because, in this example, the visibility of this bookmark has been toggled "Off" by the user.

[0062] Figure 7 This illustrates that the aforementioned plan evaluation workspace display 300 can be displayed simultaneously with other information (such as more traditional content as shown by reference numeral 701 in the attached figure).

[0063] With this configuration, these teachings achieve efficiency in information display through condensed graphical representations, simplifying multiple basic plans into a graphically available solution space for clinical goals. These teachings enable a clearer understanding of which clinical goals are reasonably achievable given a computationally available plan (or the predictive range of that plan). In typical prior art solutions, this sense of achievability is often absent, or at least difficult to discern.

[0064] One approach interprets the total set of plans as achievable outcomes for a given patient case. Using typical existing methods, such an approach is only possible through a trial-and-error method using a slider. The current teaching helps clarify what is possible by clearly showing a range of achievable values ​​for any given clinical goal. The graphical placement of the current outcomes allows users to easily understand the trade-offs between clinical goals for different patient volumes through their specific choices.

[0065] It should be recognized that while multi-criteria optimization in the context of radiation therapy planning typically involves dozens to hundreds of plans, these teachings will support any number of plans, from a single plan to thousands. For example, in the case of only a single plan, these teachings will enable easy and convenient comparison of the quality achieved relative to the relevant clinical goals.

[0066] Other aspects of the invention are provided by the subject matter of the following provisions:

[0067] Clause 1. A method comprising: operatively coupled via control circuitry to a user interface: accessing multiple radiation therapy plans; accessing clinical goals corresponding to radiation therapy plans for a specific patient; utilizing the multiple radiation therapy plans and clinical goals within a plan evaluation workspace; and presenting a plan evaluation workspace display on the user interface, comprising: - a first region discretely presenting each of a plurality of patient volume mass indicators and a corresponding patient volume; - a second region graphically presenting: - the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals is achieved for each of the patient volumes; - a space of available clinical goal achievement solutions provided by the plan evaluation workspace for at least some of the patient volumes.

[0068] Clause 2. A method based on any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the first region presents each of the multiple patient volumetric mass indexes discretely line-by-line.

[0069] Clause 3. A method according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the first region presents the plurality of patient volumetric mass indicators in discrete groups separated by relative priority.

[0070] Clause 4. Any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the separation is at least partially indicated by different contexts.

[0071] Clause 5. Any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein different backgrounds contain different grayscale tinting.

[0072] Clause 6. A method according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region has a first background treatment for generally marking a portion representing an unachieved clinical goal and a second background treatment different from the first background treatment for generally marking a portion representing an achieved clinical goal.

[0073] Clause 7. A method according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region has a third background treatment, which is different from the first and second background treatments, to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space.

[0074] Clause 8. According to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region is further graphically presented as a region within the portion representing an unachieved clinical goal, but these regions still constitute an acceptable variation of the corresponding clinical goal in the clinical goals.

[0075] Clause 9. Any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the plan evaluation workspace display also includes a graphical current plan indicator.

[0076] Clause 10. A method according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region further includes a scaling index to indicate the extent to which at least one clinical objective is achieved for each patient volume in the currently considered radiation therapy plan.

[0077] Clause 11. An apparatus comprising: a memory having a plurality of radiation therapy plan clinical goals corresponding to radiation therapy plans for a specific patient stored therein; control circuitry operatively coupled to the memory and a user interface and configured to: access the plurality of radiation therapy plans; access the clinical goals corresponding to the radiation therapy plans for a specific patient; utilize the plurality of radiation therapy plans and clinical goals within a plan evaluation workspace; and present a plan evaluation workspace display on the user interface, comprising: - a first region discretely presenting each of a plurality of patient volume mass indicators and a corresponding patient volume; - a second region graphically presenting: - the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals is achieved for each of the patient volumes; - a space of available clinical goal achievement solutions provided by the plan evaluation workspace for at least some of the patient volumes.

[0078] Clause 12. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the first region discretely presents each of a plurality of patient volumetric mass parameters row by row.

[0079] Clause 13. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the first region presents multiple patient volumes in discrete groups separated by relative priority.

[0080] Clause 14. Devices according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the separation is indicated at least in part by different backgrounds.

[0081] Clause 15. Devices according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein different backgrounds contain different grayscale tinting.

[0082] Clause 16. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region has a first background treatment for generally marking a portion representing an unachieved clinical goal and a second background treatment different from the first background treatment for generally marking a portion representing an achieved clinical goal.

[0083] Clause 17. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region has a third background treatment, which is different from the first and second background treatments, to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space.

[0084] Clause 18. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region is further graphically represented as a region within a portion representing an unachieved clinical goal, but these regions still constitute an acceptable variation of a corresponding clinical goal in the clinical goals.

[0085] Clause 19. Equipment according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the plan evaluation work area display also includes a graphical current plan indicator.

[0086] Clause 20. A device according to any combination of the foregoing clauses, wherein the second region further includes a scaling index to indicate the extent to which at least one clinical objective is achieved for each of a plurality of patient volumes.

[0087] Those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. To cite only one example, the three-dimensional dose distribution prediction (including static uncertainty, etc.) of the machine learning model can be overlaid with a Pareto plan set to assist the user in making clinical trade-offs. Therefore, it should be understood that such modifications, alterations, and combinations should be considered within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method comprising: Operablely coupled to the user interface via control circuitry: Access multiple radiation therapy programs; Access the clinical goals corresponding to the radiation therapy plan for a specific patient; The multiple radiation therapy plans and the clinical objectives are utilized within the planning and evaluation work area; The user interface displays a plan evaluation workspace, including: The first region discretely presents each of the multiple patient volume mass indicators and the corresponding patient volume; The second region, which is graphically presented: The extent to which at least one of the clinical objectives is achieved for each of the patient volumes; The planned evaluation workspace provides a space of available solutions for achieving clinical goals for at least some of the patient volumes.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first region discretely presents each of the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators along a line.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first region presents the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators in discrete groups separated by relative priority.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The separation is indicated at least in part by different backgrounds.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The different backgrounds contain different shades of gray.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The second region has a first background treatment for a portion typically marked to represent unachieved clinical goals and a second background treatment, distinct from the first background treatment, for a portion typically marked to represent achieved clinical goals.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The second region has a third background treatment, which is different from the first and second background treatments, to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The second region is further graphically represented as areas within a portion of the unachieved clinical goal, but these areas still constitute an acceptable variation of the corresponding clinical goal.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The plan evaluation workspace also includes a graphical indicator of the current plan.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The second region also includes a scaling index to indicate the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals is achieved for each of the patient volumes.

11. An apparatus comprising: A memory containing multiple radiation therapy plan clinical goals corresponding to a specific patient's radiation therapy plan stored therein; Control circuitry, operably coupled to the memory and the user interface and configured to: Access the aforementioned multiple radiation therapy plans; Access the clinical goals corresponding to the radiation therapy plan for the specific patient; The multiple radiation therapy plans and the clinical objectives are utilized within the planning and evaluation work area; The user interface displays the plan evaluation workspace, including: The first region discretely presents each of the multiple patient volume mass indicators and the corresponding patient volume; The second region, which is graphically presented: The extent to which at least one of the clinical objectives is achieved for each of the patient volumes; The planned evaluation workspace provides a space of available solutions for achieving clinical goals for at least some of the patient volumes.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein, The first region discretely presents each of the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators row by row.

13. The device according to claim 11, wherein, The first region presents the multiple patient volumetric mass indicators in discrete groups separated by relative priority.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein, The separation is indicated at least in part by different backgrounds.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein, The different backgrounds contain different shades of gray.

16. The device according to claim 11, wherein, The second region has a first background treatment for a portion typically marked to represent unachieved clinical goals and a second background treatment, distinct from the first background treatment, for a portion typically marked to represent achieved clinical goals.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein, The second region has a third background treatment, which is different from the first and second background treatments, to uniquely indicate the available clinical goal achievement solution space.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein, The second region is further graphically represented as areas within a portion of the unachieved clinical goal, but these areas still constitute an acceptable variation of the corresponding clinical goal.

19. The device according to claim 11, wherein, The plan evaluation workspace also includes a graphical indicator of the current plan.

20. The device according to claim 11, wherein, The second region also includes a scaling index to indicate the extent to which at least one of the clinical goals is achieved for each of the patient volumes by the currently considered radiation therapy plan.

Images