Workflow management apparatus, radiotherapy apparatus, and workflow management method

Abstract

To provide a workflow management apparatus capable of efficiently generating workflow data.SOLUTION: A workflow storage unit 35 accumulates, for each piece of actual workflow data that is past workflow data, actual treatment plan data that is treatment plan data used to generate the actual workflow data. The treatment plan data processing unit 34 acquires target treatment plan data. A workflow management unit 36 confirms whether there is similar treatment plan data that is actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data. When there is similar treatment plan data, target workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data is generated by using reference workflow data which is actual workflow data generated by using the similar treatment plan data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a workflow management device, a radiation therapy device, and a workflow management method. [Background technology]

[0002] In radiation therapy, which treats an affected area such as a tumor by irradiating a patient with radiation, treatment plan data is prepared in advance, which indicates the irradiation details of the radiation to be irradiated to the patient, such as the irradiation area, irradiation energy, irradiation angle, and number of irradiations. In addition, workflow data is generated according to the treatment plan data, which defines the setting values ​​of various parameters related to the radiation therapy device for performing the radiation therapy (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-113335 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In radiation therapy, it may become necessary to change the treatment plan during the treatment period, such as in the case of online adaptive radiation therapy, which recreates the treatment plan according to the patient's internal body information on the day of treatment. In this case, although the technology described in Patent Document 1 can carry over the values ​​of at least some items of workflow data before and after the treatment plan change, it is necessary to generate new workflow data from scratch in response to the change in the treatment plan, which is a time-consuming process.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a workflow management device, a radiation therapy device, and a workflow management method that are capable of efficiently generating workflow data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A workflow management device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a workflow management device that generates and manages workflow data indicating settings for a radiation therapy device for performing radiation therapy, using treatment plan data that indicates a treatment plan for radiation therapy to irradiate a patient, and includes: a memory unit that accumulates, for each actual workflow data that is past workflow data, actual treatment plan data that is the treatment plan data used to generate the actual workflow data; an acquisition unit that acquires target treatment plan data that is the treatment plan data to be processed; a management unit that confirms whether similar treatment plan data exists that is the actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data; and a generation unit that, if the similar treatment plan data exists, generates target workflow data that is the workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data, using reference workflow data that is actual workflow data generated using the similar treatment plan data. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently generate workflow data. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a radiation therapy system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of actual workflow data and actual treatment plan data. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a workflow management process. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a radiation therapy system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The radiation therapy system 1 shown in Fig. 1 includes a radiation therapy apparatus 2 and a workflow management apparatus 3. The radiation therapy system 1 is also communicably connected to a radiation therapy information management system 4.

[0011] The radiation therapy information management system 4 manages treatment plan data received from a treatment planning system (not shown). The treatment plan data indicates, for example, irradiation details such as the irradiation area, irradiation energy, irradiation angle, and number of beams of radiation beams to be irradiated to the patient A as a treatment plan for radiation therapy for the patient A.

[0012] The radiotherapy device 2 performs radiotherapy by irradiating radiation onto a treatment site of the patient A based on treatment plan data from the radiotherapy information management system 4 and workflow data from the workflow management device 3, which will be described later. Specifically, the radiotherapy device 2 includes an irradiation device 21 and a control device 22.

[0013] The irradiation device 21 is a device that irradiates radiation to a patient A, and includes a bed 211, a moving device 212, an irradiation nozzle 213, a gantry 214, a radiation generator 215, and a radiation detector 216. In this embodiment, the radiation is a particle beam, but it may also be an X-ray or the like.

[0014] The bed 211 is a table on which the patient A rests, and is sometimes called a couch. The moving device 212 moves the bed 211. The irradiation nozzle 213 irradiates the patient A placed on the bed 211 with radiation. For example, the irradiation nozzle 213 irradiates the patient A with radiation transported from an accelerator (not shown) via a transportation system (not shown). The gantry 214 rotates the irradiation nozzle 213 around the patient, thereby adjusting the irradiation angle of the radiation from the irradiation nozzle 213 with respect to the patient A.

[0015] The radiation generator 215 and the radiation detector 216 constitute a radiation imaging device that acquires a radiation image for performing positioning processing of patient A, which will be described later. The radiation generator 215 generates radiation such as X-rays, and the radiation detector 216 detects the radiation to acquire a radiation image. There are multiple pairs of radiation generators 215 and radiation detectors 216, and each pair of the radiation generators 215 and the radiation detectors 216 are arranged on either side of the irradiation port of the irradiation nozzle 213 and so that the paths of the respective rays are perpendicular to each other. In the figure, two pairs of the radiation generators 215 and the radiation detectors 216 are shown, but there may be three or more pairs.

[0016] The control device 22 controls the irradiation device 21 based on the treatment plan data, workflow data, and various operations from the surgeon, who is the user of the radiation therapy system 1, to cause the irradiation device 21 to irradiate radiation to the patient A. For example, the control device 22 performs various settings for performing radiation therapy on the irradiation device 21 based on the workflow data, and controls the moving device 212 to perform positioning processing to move the treatment area of ​​the patient A placed on the bed 211 to a position suitable for radiation irradiation. More specifically, the positioning processing is processing to position the treatment area of ​​the patient A in the same position as when the treatment plan was generated, using CT (Computed Tomography) images of the patient A captured in advance to generate the treatment plan, or DRR (Digital Reconstructed Radiograph) images, which are digitally reconstructed X-ray images generated from the CT images, and radiation images captured by a radiation imaging device composed of a radiation generator 215 and a radiation detector 216.

[0017] The workflow management device 3 is a radiation therapy support device that supports radiation therapy performed by the radiation therapy device 2, and uses treatment plan data to generate workflow data, which is setting information indicating settings for performing radiation therapy on the radiation therapy device 2. The workflow data includes, for example, a plurality of setting items and item values, which are values ​​for each setting item, as setting contents. The workflow data may also indicate the order and timing of performing tasks related to each setting item.

[0018] The workflow management device 3 includes a communication unit 31 , an input unit 32 , a display unit 33 , a treatment plan data processing unit 34 , a workflow storage unit 35 , a workflow management unit 36 ​​, and a workflow generation unit 37 .

[0019] The communication unit 31 communicates with the radiotherapy apparatus 2 and the radiotherapy information management system 4, and transmits and receives various information. For example, the communication unit 31 receives treatment plan data from the radiotherapy information management system 4, and transmits workflow data to the radiotherapy apparatus 2. In the example of Fig. 1, the communication unit 31 is connected to the radiotherapy information management system 4 via the radiotherapy apparatus 2 so as to be able to communicate with the radiotherapy information management system 4, but it may also be connected to the radiotherapy information management system 4 so as to be able to communicate directly with the radiotherapy information management system 4.

[0020] The input unit 32 receives various information such as patient information from an operator who is a user of the radiotherapy system 1. The operator is, for example, a doctor or a radiologist.

[0021] The display unit 33 displays various information such as a takeover confirmation screen (see FIG. 4) described later.

[0022] The treatment plan data processing unit 34 is an acquisition unit that acquires target treatment plan data, which is treatment plan data to be processed, from the radiotherapy apparatus 2 or the radiotherapy information management system 4 via the communication unit 31.

[0023] The workflow storage unit 35 is a storage unit that accumulates, for each actual workflow data, which is workflow data generated in the past, actual treatment plan data, which is past treatment plan data used to generate that actual workflow data. Note that radiation therapy is divided into multiple processing units called fields for each treatment plan data, and one radiation therapy may have multiple treatment plan data. Even in this case, workflow data is generated for each radiation therapy. In other words, multiple treatment plan data may be linked to one workflow data.

[0024] The workflow management unit 36 ​​is a management unit that compares the target treatment plan data, which is the treatment plan data acquired by the treatment plan data processing unit 34, with the actual treatment plan data stored in the workflow storage unit 35, and determines whether the actual workflow data can be used to generate the target workflow data, which is workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data. Specifically, the workflow management unit 36 ​​checks whether similar treatment plan data, which is actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data, exists, and if similar treatment plan data exists, it determines that the reference workflow data, which is actual workflow data linked to the similar treatment plan data, can be used to generate the target workflow data. The predetermined similarity relationship is, for example, whether the values ​​of specific items included in the treatment plan data match.

[0025] The workflow generation unit 37 is a generation unit that generates target workflow data based on the patient information accepted by the input unit 32 and the target treatment plan data acquired by the treatment plan data processing unit 34. For example, if the workflow management unit 36 ​​determines that the reference workflow data is available, the workflow generation unit 37 generates target workflow data that inherits at least some of the values ​​of each item of the reference workflow data. On the other hand, if the workflow management unit 36 ​​determines that the reference workflow data is unavailable, the workflow generation unit 37 generates new target workflow data based on the patient information and the target treatment plan data. In generating the new target workflow data, for example, the workflow generation unit 37 selects a template corresponding to the patient information of patient A from a plurality of templates related to workflow data prepared in advance, and sets setting values ​​for each setting item of the template based on the treatment plan information, the patient information accepted by the input unit 32, and generates the target workflow data.

[0026] The target workflow data generated by the workflow generation unit 37 is transmitted to the radiotherapy device 2 via the communication unit 31. The target workflow data and the target treatment plan data are stored in the workflow storage unit 35 as actual workflow data and actual treatment plan data.

[0027] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing workflow data 201 and treatment plan data 202 as examples of actual workflow data and actual treatment plan data stored in the workflow storage unit 35. Note that the example of Fig. 2 shows one workflow data 201 and multiple treatment plan data 202 linked to the workflow data 201.

[0028] The workflow data 201 includes a plurality of setting items that indicate settings for performing radiation therapy. In the example of Fig. 2, the workflow data 201 indicates, as examples of setting items, a workflow ID, a template ID, a plan ID, a SOP (Service Object Pair) Instance UID, a patient ID, a treatment area, and a body type.

[0029] The workflow ID is identification information for identifying the workflow data 201. The template ID is identification information for identifying the template used to generate the workflow data 201. The plan ID is identification information for identifying the treatment plan data 202 used to generate the workflow data 201. In this embodiment, there are multiple (N pieces) of treatment plan data 202 used to generate the workflow data 201. In this case, the workflow data 201 has identification information for all of the N pieces of treatment plan data 202.

[0030] The SOPInstanceUID is identification information that uniquely identifies within DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) the medical image used to generate the treatment plan data that was used to generate the workflow data 201. The patient ID is identification information that identifies the patient who will receive radiation therapy in accordance with the workflow data 201. The treatment site is the site (affected area) of the patient who will receive radiation therapy in accordance with the workflow data 201. The body type is the physical characteristics of the patient who will receive radiation therapy in accordance with the workflow data 201, and indicates, for example, whether they are a child, small, standard, or large.

[0031] The treatment plan data 202 includes multiple plan items related to the treatment plan for radiation therapy. In the example of Fig. 2, examples of the plan items include a plan ID, a beam number, a field type, a field execution order, an imaging mode, an isocenter position, a couch angle, and a gantry angle.

[0032] The plan ID is identification information for identifying the treatment plan data 202. The beam number indicates the order in which the fields are registered in the treatment plan indicated by the treatment plan data 202. The field type indicates the type of field corresponding to the treatment plan data 202. In this embodiment, the field type indicates "Setup," which indicates a field up to the completion of the positioning process for patient A placed on the bed 211, or "Treatment," which indicates a field after the positioning process is completed. The field execution order is the order in which the fields corresponding to the treatment plan data 202 are executed in radiation therapy. The isocenter position represents the reference position in radiation therapy and is often the central position of the target where radiation is most concentrated in radiation therapy. The couch angle indicates the angle of the bed 211 and indicates at least the yaw angle of the bed 211. The gantry angle indicates the angle of the gantry 214. Note that the couch angle and gantry angle may be changed within a field. In this case, the couch angle and gantry angle indicate both the start angle and the end angle within the field.

[0033] The treatment plan data 202 is not limited to the above plan items, and may include other plan items such as a patient ID and an SOPInstanceUID.

[0034] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the workflow management process performed by the workflow management device 3.

[0035] In the workflow management processing, first, the treatment plan data processing unit 34 acquires target treatment plan data, which is the treatment plan data for which workflow data is to be generated, from the radiation therapy device 2 or the radiation therapy information management system 4 via the communication unit 31 (step S101).

[0036] The workflow management unit 36 ​​searches the workflow storage unit 35 for actual workflow data (abbreviated as WF in FIG. 3) of the patient who is the patient of the target treatment plan data, and checks whether actual workflow data of the patient exists (step S102). Specifically, the actual workflow data of the patient is actual workflow data including the patient ID of the patient.

[0037] If actual workflow data for the patient does not exist (step S102: No), the workflow management unit 36 ​​determines that the actual workflow data is not available, and the workflow generation unit 37 generates new target workflow data based on the patient information and target treatment plan data (step S103).

[0038] If actual workflow data for the patient exists (step S102: Yes), the workflow management unit 36 ​​checks whether or not actual workflow data for the patient has the same SOPInstanceUID as the SOPInstanceUID of the target treatment plan data (step S104).

[0039] If actual workflow data having the same SOPInstanceUID exists (step S104: Yes), the workflow management unit 36 ​​determines that the actual workflow data can be used, and the workflow generation unit 37 generates target workflow data by using the actual workflow data having the same SOPInstanceUID as reference workflow data (step S105). Here, the workflow generation unit 37 generates the target workflow data by inheriting all of the values ​​of each setting item of the reference workflow data.

[0040] If there is no workflow data with the same SOPInstanceUID (step S104: No), the workflow management unit 36 ​​checks whether the value of the specific item included in the target treatment plan data matches the value of the specific item of the actual treatment plan data linked to the actual workflow data of the patient (step S106). The specific item is, for example, at least one of the isocenter position, couch angle, and gantry angle. In addition to or instead of these, the specific item may also be the number of beams. The number of beams is the number of actual treatment plan data whose field type is "treatment."

[0041] If the values ​​of the specific items match (step S106: Yes), the process of step S105 described above is executed using the actual workflow data linked to the actual treatment plan data with the matching values ​​of the specific items as the reference workflow data. On the other hand, if the values ​​of the specific items do not match (step S106: No), the workflow management unit 36 ​​determines whether the number of setups, which is the number of actual treatment plan data with the field type of "setup", matches the number of setups of the target treatment plan data (step S107).

[0042] If the setup numbers do not match (step S107: No), the process of step S103 described above is executed. On the other hand, if the setup numbers match (step S107: Yes), the workflow management unit 36 ​​displays a takeover confirmation screen on the display unit 33 to confirm whether or not to use (take over) the actual treatment plan data, and performs processing according to the confirmation result (step S108).

[0043] In the process according to the confirmation result, for example, if actual treatment plan data is not used, new target workflow data is generated similarly to the process of step S103, and if actual treatment plan data is used, actual workflow data linked to actual treatment plan data with the same number of setups is used as reference workflow data to generate target workflow data similar to the process of step S105. At that time, the workflow generation unit 37 generates target workflow data by inheriting at least some of the values ​​of each setting item of the reference workflow data, and then executes a process of generating new target workflow data for only the values ​​of the remaining setting items.

[0044] The workflow management process described above is merely an example and is not limited to this. For example, the workflow management unit 36 ​​may determine whether the target treatment plan data is modified treatment plan data obtained by modifying the actual treatment plan data, and if the target treatment plan data is modified treatment plan data, the workflow management process described above may be performed. Whether the target treatment plan data is modified treatment plan data can be determined, for example, based on input from the user.

[0045] The handover confirmation screen may also be displayed before the processing of step S105. In this case, if the actual treatment plan data is not used, the processing of step S103 is executed, and if the actual treatment plan data is used, the processing of step S105 is executed.

[0046] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the handover confirmation screen 400. The handover confirmation screen 400 shown in FIG.

[0047] The patient information display field 401 is a field for displaying the patient information of the patient. The selection field 402 is a field for the user to select whether or not to use (take over) the performance workflow data for generating the target workflow.

[0048] The selection field 403 is a field for selecting the reference workflow data to be used in generating the target workflow when there are multiple pieces of reference workflow data that are actual workflow data that can be used in generating the target workflow, and shows multiple pieces of reference workflow data. In the example of Fig. 4, the selection field 403 shows, as supplemental information for selecting the reference workflow data, the treatment site (Treatment Site) corresponding to the reference workflow data and the name (Plan Name) of similar treatment plan data, a description (Description) of the reference workflow data, and the date and time of the last treatment (Last Treatment Time) using the reference workflow data.

[0049] Furthermore, the selection field 403 may recommend predetermined reference workflow data from among the reference workflow data. The predetermined reference workflow data may be, for example, the most recent reference workflow data. The recommendation method is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a method in which the predetermined reference workflow data is selected by default or displayed as a selectable data with priority.

[0050] As described above, according to this embodiment, the workflow storage unit 35 accumulates, for each piece of actual workflow data, which is past workflow data, actual treatment plan data, which is the treatment plan data used to generate that actual workflow data. The treatment plan data processing unit 34 acquires target treatment plan data. The workflow management unit 36 ​​checks whether similar treatment plan data, which is actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data, exists. If similar treatment plan data exists, target workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data is generated using reference workflow data, which is actual workflow data generated using the similar treatment plan data. Therefore, it is possible to use reference workflow data generated using similar treatment plan data to generate target workflow data, thereby enabling efficient generation of workflow data.

[0051] In this embodiment, the similarity relationship is defined as the matching of values ​​of specific items included in the treatment plan data. In particular, the specific items include at least one of the isocenter position, couch angle, and irradiation angle. In this case, more appropriate workflow data can be selected as the reference workflow data to be used for generating the target workflow data.

[0052] In addition, in this embodiment, if similar treatment plan data exists, the display unit 33 displays a takeover confirmation screen that asks the user whether or not to use the reference workflow data. In this case, it becomes possible to more reliably determine whether or not to use the actual workflow data.

[0053] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when there are multiple pieces of reference workflow data, the display unit 33 displays a handover confirmation screen for further inquiring about which of the multiple pieces of reference workflow data to use. In this case, it is possible to select more appropriate workflow data as the reference workflow data to use in generating the target workflow data.

[0054] In this embodiment, the takeover confirmation screen recommends the most recent reference workflow data among the plurality of reference workflow data.

[0055] In this embodiment, when the target treatment plan data is modified treatment plan data obtained by modifying the actual treatment plan data, the workflow management unit 36 ​​checks whether similar treatment plan data exists. In this case, the presence or absence of similar treatment plan data can be efficiently checked.

[0056] In this embodiment, the workflow storage unit 35 stores the target workflow data generated by the workflow generation unit 37 in association with the target treatment plan data. In this case, it becomes possible to sequentially accumulate the actual workflow data.

[0057] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely illustrative examples of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to these embodiments alone. Those skilled in the art may implement the present disclosure in various other forms without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 1: Radiation therapy system 2: Radiation therapy device 3: Workflow management device 4: Radiation therapy information management system 21: Irradiation device 22: Control device 31: Communication unit 32: Input unit 33: Display unit 34: Treatment plan data processing unit 35: Workflow storage unit 36: Workflow management unit 37: Workflow generation unit 201: Workflow data 202: Treatment plan data 211: Bed 212: Moving device 213: Irradiation nozzle 214: Gantry 215: Radiation generator 216: Radiation detector A: Patient

Claims

1. A workflow management device that generates and manages workflow data indicating settings for a radiation therapy device for performing radiation therapy, using treatment plan data indicating a treatment plan for radiation therapy in which radiation is irradiated to a patient, a storage unit that stores, for each of the past workflow data, actual treatment plan data that is the treatment plan data used to generate the actual workflow data; an acquisition unit that acquires target treatment plan data, which is the treatment plan data to be processed; a management unit that checks whether there is similar treatment plan data that is the actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data; a generation unit that, when the similar treatment plan data exists, generates target workflow data, which is the workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data, by utilizing reference workflow data, which is actual workflow data generated using the similar treatment plan data.

2. The workflow management device according to claim 1 , wherein the similarity relationship is a match between values ​​of specific items included in the treatment plan data.

3. The workflow management device according to claim 2 , wherein the specific items include at least one of an isocenter position, a couch angle, and an irradiation angle.

4. a display unit that displays a screen for inquiring a user about whether or not the reference workflow data can be used when the similar treatment plan data exists; The workflow management device according to claim 1 , wherein the generation unit generates the target workflow data by using the reference workflow data when the user is permitted to use the reference workflow data.

5. 5. The workflow management device according to claim 4, wherein, when there are a plurality of pieces of reference workflow data, the display unit displays a screen for further inquiring about the reference workflow data to be used from among the plurality of pieces of reference workflow data.

6. The workflow management device according to claim 5 , wherein the screen recommends the most recent reference workflow data of the plurality of reference workflow data as the reference workflow data to be used.

7. 2. The workflow management device according to claim 1, wherein the management unit checks whether the similar treatment plan data exists when the target treatment plan data is modified treatment plan data obtained by modifying the actual treatment plan data.

8. The workflow management device according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit stores the target workflow data generated by the generation unit in association with the target treatment plan data.

9. 10. A radiotherapy apparatus comprising a control device that performs settings for performing radiotherapy based on workflow data generated by the workflow management device according to claim 1.

10. A workflow management method using a workflow management device that generates and manages workflow data indicating settings for a radiation therapy device for performing radiation therapy, using treatment plan data indicating a treatment plan for radiation therapy in which radiation is irradiated to a patient, comprising: For each of the past workflow data, actual treatment plan data is stored as the treatment plan data used to generate the workflow data; Acquire target treatment plan data, which is the treatment plan data to be processed; confirming whether there is similar treatment plan data, which is the actual treatment plan data having a predetermined similarity relationship with the target treatment plan data; A workflow management method for generating target workflow data, which is the workflow data corresponding to the target treatment plan data, by using reference workflow data, which is actual workflow data generated using the similar treatment plan data, when the similar treatment plan data exists.

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