BORE-BASED MEDICAL SYSTEM INCLUDING A CAMERA CARRIER CONFIGURED TO BE INSTALLED WITHIN THE BORE-BASED MEDICAL SYSTEM AND USED FOR POSITIONING AND MONITORING A PATIENT DURING RADIATION THERAPY - Patent application

Abstract

To provide alternative solutions for positioning and monitoring of a patient within a bore-based medical system.SOLUTION: Disclosed is a bore-based medical system 400 comprising a camera carrier 1 configured to monitor and / or track patient motion within the bore-based medical system during radiotherapy. The bore-based medical system comprises a rotatable ring-gantry configured to emit a radiotherapy beam focused at an iso-center 23 of the bore-based medical system. A through-bore 401 is configured to receive from the front side a movable couch configured to be moved into and out of the through-bore. Further, the through-bore comprises an inner side facing an inside of the bore. The camera carrier is configured to be mounted inside the bore in connection with the inner side of the through-bore.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a bore-based medical system having a camera carrier mounted therein. The camera carrier is configured to be mounted in a bore-based medical system, such as a bore-based imaging and / or treatment system. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a camera carrier structure having one or more cameras mounted in the bore-based medical system and integrally disposed in a through-going bore of the bore-based medical system to enable monitoring and tracking of patient movement during radiation therapy. The one or more cameras are configured to monitor a patient lying on a couch of the system during a set-up stage of the patient's medical imaging or treatment, to monitor any movement of the patient on the couch during the treatment stage, and / or to also monitor the movement of the couch during the patient's medical imaging or treatment. To monitor the patient, especially during the treatment stage, it is important to be able to perform accurate imaging of the patient, since it is important to be able to obtain a sufficient view of the patient, for example via camera technology. [Background technology]

[0002] In medical diagnostic imaging and therapy applications, for example used in cancer diagnosis and therapy, it is necessary to be able to monitor the patient during cancer treatment, for example, to ensure that the correct target tissue of the patient is adequately treated without damaging healthy tissue. Furthermore, in order to be able to align the treatment setup with the correct target area, it is important to ensure that the patient is positioned in a way that can be transferred to the treatment room during scanning methodologies, for example CT and MR imaging. Thus, in conventional cancer diagnosis and therapy, the patient is positioned in a CT and / or MR scanner for diagnostic and planning purposes to evaluate the target tissue to be treated. Before the planning stage, the patient is moved, for example, to a radiation therapy room, where a linear accelerator, such as a Linac radiation therapy device (also known as a gantry), is utilized to treat the patient's cancerous tissue with radiation therapy. In particular, during the treatment, it is important that any potential movements of the patient are monitored and aligned in order to be able to stop the treatment to avoid any unintended damage to the patient's healthy tissue areas. Thus, in conventional radiation therapy rooms, a set of monitoring cameras is often utilized to monitor the patient's movements during treatment. Moreover, such cameras are also configured to be utilized as positioning set-up cameras, whereby health care professionals in the radiation therapy room are assisted in ensuring that the patient is correctly positioned on the treatment couch, especially in terms of correctly positioning the patient with respect to the treatment isocenter and the target tissue to be exposed to radiation therapy. Such conventional radiation therapy rooms are usually configured with a C-arm radiation therapy system, and thus the monitoring camera has a sufficient field of view to monitor the patient and the treatment room, since the camera is often mounted, for example, in the ceiling area of ​​the treatment room.

[0003] However, unlike these conventional linear accelerators, recently developed bore-based medical systems, such as radiotherapy bore-based medical systems, limit the view of the ceiling-mounted camera because patient monitoring, and therefore any displacement of the target tissue relative to the radiotherapy beam, especially during treatment, may be limited in such systems. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Thus, there is a need to rethink existing camera solutions in order to be able to adequately monitor and track any potential movements of a patient in a bore-based medical system, for example during a radiation therapy treatment.Therefore, there is a need to provide a solution that addresses at least some of the above-mentioned problems, and the present disclosure provides at least a new and alternative solution for patient positioning and monitoring in a bore-based medical system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a bore-based medical system including a camera carrier configured to be mounted within the bore-based medical system and configured to monitor and / or track patient movement within the bore-based medical system during radiation therapy. The bore-based medical system includes a rotatable ring gantry configured to emit a radiation therapy beam focused at an isocenter of the bore-based medical system, the ring gantry configured to rotate at least partially around a through bore having a front side and a rear side. The through bore is configured to receive a moveable couch configured to move in and out of the through bore from the front side, and further includes an inner side facing an interior of the through bore, and the camera carrier is configured to be mounted inside the through bore in association with the inner side of the through bore. Furthermore, the bore-based medical system includes a camera carrier integrated therein, the camera carrier including at least two treatment monitoring cameras mounted in relation to the inner surface of the through bore and configured together to cover a field of view including the isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system, the two treatment monitoring cameras being configured to record images of a patient lying on a movable couch during radiation therapy in order to enable monitoring and / or tracking of any movements made by the patient. This solution provides in particular a camera system mounted on the bore-based medical system that optimizes the movement tracking of a patient lying on a couch in the bore-based medical system. The bore-based system according to the invention allows to maintain a good viewing angle of the patient inside the through bore via the two monitoring cameras during the treatment of the patient. Furthermore, by integrating the two treatment monitoring cameras in the through bore of the system, the camera carrier provides a stable mounting of the cameras inside the bore. A stable mounting of the two treatment monitoring cameras in the internal structure of the bore-based medical system is important in terms of maintaining the absolute position of the camera forming part of the camera carrier as well as the inter-camera calibration.

[0006] It should be noted that generally throughout this disclosure, the camera carrier is described as forming a carrier body on which at least two treatment monitoring cameras can be mounted. However, as will be clear, the two treatment monitoring cameras may be configured to be directly mounted on the internal structure of the inner surface of the through bore. That is, in one embodiment, the bore-based medical system includes an internal space between the inner surface and an outer-facing side of the bore-based medical system, the rotatable gantry is configured to rotate within the internal space, and the two treatment monitoring cameras are configured to be mounted within the internal space. The inner surface may be configured, in such an embodiment, for each of the two treatment monitoring cameras, with a transparent area at a wavelength visible to the camera, allowing the treatment monitoring cameras to record images of the patient positioned within the field of view of the treatment monitoring camera that covers at least the isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system.

[0007] It should be appreciated that in one embodiment, the transparent area may simply be a hole in the material of the inner surface through which the camera can "see." Thus, the camera lens (i.e., the camera viewing surface) does not need to be covered by an additional layer of material when integrally attached to the inner surface of the bore. Rather, the camera's "viewing surface" may be substantially flush with the inner surface.

[0008] As mentioned above, the two treatment monitoring cameras may be mounted on the carrier body, and the treatment monitoring cameras are mounted on the carrier body at equal distances from the symmetry line of the carrier body. In this way, it is ensured that the treatment monitoring cameras when mounted in the through bore cover substantially the same field of view, including at least the isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system.

[0009] In general, the two treatment monitoring cameras can be considered to be any camera suitable for providing 3D camera technology and can be used with the current setup, such 3D camera technology including structured light cameras, Time of Flight, Laser Scanning cameras, and / or any other suitable 3D surface tracking camera.

[0010] The carrier body may include a camera viewing surface facing an isocenter focal point of the bore-based medical system, and the two treatment monitoring cameras may be configured such that internal camera mirrors of the two treatment monitoring cameras are angled relative to the camera viewing surface, in this manner, the cameras when inserted into the through bore may cover a field of view that includes the isocenter focal point and at least a portion of the patient.

[0011] Generally, when inserting a camera into a generally bore-based medical system, it is important to angle the camera at the correct angle to cover a sufficient portion of the patient, including, for example, the isocenter focal point that contains the tumor target tissue to be treated. Due to the substantially "rounded" inner surface of the bore-based medical system, it can be difficult to mount treatment monitoring cameras so that they 1) do not take up excessive space in the bore and 2) include a sufficient field of view to be able to track any patient movements during the radiation therapy treatment. According to the solution provided herein, the mounting of the camera carrier and the camera in the bore, as described, provides an efficient solution to allow good coverage of the camera in the bore without taking up excessive space in the bore. More detailed structure and positioning of the camera in the through bore that allows a sufficient field of view will become apparent throughout the disclosure, especially with reference to the detailed description of the figures.

[0012] It should be noted that in one embodiment, the camera carrier of the bore-based medical system may further include a set of two setup cameras having forward viewing faces facing substantially opposite the two treatment monitoring cameras and facing a forward viewing area of ​​the bore-based medical system, the two setup cameras being configured to have a field of view covering at least a portion of the bed when the bed is positioned outside the through bore.

[0013] Both the set-up camera (also referred to as the front camera throughout the disclosure) and the treatment monitoring camera (also referred to as the rear camera throughout the disclosure) described herein are preferably used to generate a 3D surface of the patient when the patient is positioned within the couch of the bore-based medical system. The 3D surface generated from the images recorded by the cameras is used to track any potential movements of the patient during, for example, the treatment and / or set-up phase of a radiotherapy treatment session. That is, in the set-up phase of the system according to the present disclosure, the described front camera (i.e., the set-up camera) is used to record an image of the patient positioned on the couch outside the bore of the bore-based medical system. In this set-up phase, the front camera records an image of the patient to enable a surface generation of the patient, which assists the medical clinician using the system to correctly position the patient on the couch with respect to treating, for example, a target area, including, for example, a cancer.

[0014] In the preceding treatment phase, the bed with the patient is moved inside the through-bore of the bore-based medical system, and the rear camera (i.e., the treatment monitoring camera) is configured to continuously monitor any movement of the patient during the treatment, through the creation of a surface of the patient and the subsequent tracking of any movement of the created surface from an initial given position. In this way, the rear camera can monitor the patient directly in the bore, which solves the existing problem of not having a sufficient view of the patient when using a camera positioned outside the bore. For these reasons, in the following, the front camera is referred to as the set-up camera and the rear camera is referred to as the treatment monitoring camera. Furthermore, the rear camera may be configured to check, before the actual treatment, that the patient does not move while he is being transported into the bore. Thus, it can be said that a position check can be performed by the rear camera before starting the treatment, thus enabling the camera to continuously monitor any movement of the patient during the treatment.

[0015] As will be apparent, the treatment monitoring camera and the set-up camera may be mounted on the same camera carrier and / or separate camera carriers within the throughbore, with at least the treatment monitoring camera always being positioned within the throughbore, whether inside a structure within the throughbore or on the outer surface of the inner surface of the throughbore.

[0016] In an embodiment, the camera carrier may be configured with a substantially ring-shaped body (i.e., carrier body), and the two setup cameras are configured to be mounted to the bore-based system substantially back-to-back with the two treatment monitoring cameras, respectively, to form a first back-to-back camera configuration and a second back-to-back camera configuration. In other words, the camera carrier may include a first substantially back-to-back camera configuration, in which the first front camera is mounted substantially back-to-back with the first rear camera of the camera carrier, and a second back-to-back camera configuration, in which the second front camera is mounted substantially back-to-back with the second rear camera of the camera carrier, and each of the front camera and the rear camera is configured such that the internal camera mirror of the front camera and the rear camera is angled with respect to the forward viewing surface and the rear viewing surface, respectively. By providing each of the cameras with an angled mirror structure, it is ensured that the camera plane of the camera can be aligned parallel to the surface of the camera carrier ring body, while at the same time ensuring a viewing angle that covers the patient lying substantially below the camera. Furthermore, the back-to-back configuration of four cameras (two cameras for each back-to-back configuration) ensures a compact, rigid, and stable camera carrier that is easily mounted to bore-based medical systems.

[0017] In further embodiments of the camera carrier, one or more of the front and rear cameras may include a projector configured to project light onto a target configured to be located within the field of view of the one or more cameras. The projected light may aid in the 3D surface generation provided by the camera carrier. That is, when light is projected onto an object within the field of view of the camera, this light, preferably structured or patterned light, may be recorded by the camera, which facilitates subsequent image processing of the image generated by the camera and 3D object (or patient) surface generation. It should be noted that the 3D surface generation may be performed in the imaging software provided with the camera or alternatively in the imaging software provided outside the camera.

[0018] In one embodiment, the camera carrier may be configured such that each of the one or more cameras (i.e., one or more of the two setup cameras and / or one or more of the two treatment monitoring cameras) each includes at least two internal mirrors, a first mirror disposed at a first end face of the camera and a second mirror disposed at a second end face of the camera, each of the mirrors including a mirror center and a mirror central axis defined between the mirror centers, and the mirrors configured to reflect incident light to an image sensor of the camera.

[0019] In one embodiment, the first and second mirrors for all of the cameras described herein are positioned to form a mirror angle between the viewing surface of the camera and the mirror plane, and the mirror angle is configured to be greater than or equal to 45 degrees.

[0020] In certain embodiments, one or more of the cameras described herein, particularly the setup and treatment monitoring cameras, may include at least a first image sensor configured to be positioned on a camera substrate at a distance from a first mirror center and a second image sensor configured to be positioned on an opposite side of the substrate at a distance from a second mirror center, the mirror plane of each of the first and second mirrors being configured with a mirror angle α1=α2, the first and second sensors including a first sensor axis and a second sensor axis perpendicular to the first sensor axis, and at least one of the first sensor axis or the second sensor axis being positioned normal to the plane of the viewing surface and parallel to the first mirror axis of the mirror plane.

[0021] It should be noted that the mirror configuration and the sensor configuration together ensure that the camera has the correct view of the setup focus (for the front camera) and the isocenter focus (for the rear camera) when the camera is mounted on the bore-based medical system. It allows the top surface of the camera to be mounted substantially parallel to the top surface of the ring-shaped body, as described above. In other words, the camera body must be angled relative to the ring-shaped body so as to allow the camera mirror and sensor to provide a camera view that covers the setup focus and the isocenter focus.

[0022] In a further embodiment, the camera carrier may further comprise a third front camera configured as a couch monitoring camera, which may be mounted to the bore-based medical system so as to be centered substantially halfway with respect to the first back-to-back camera arrangement and the second back-to-back camera arrangement, the couch monitoring camera configured to have a lens orientation with a field of view covering at least a portion of the couch of the bore-based medical system in the mounted state of the couch monitoring camera. This provides the possibility that the camera carrier can track any couch movements and provide an error estimate of e.g. isocenter deviation or e.g. couch sag or deviation taking into account pre-calibrated parameters.

[0023] In an embodiment, the ring-shaped body may include a focal point, and the first back-to-back camera arrangement and the second back-to-back camera arrangement are disposed in or on the ring-shaped body at substantially the same radial distance and viewing angle from the focal point. It should be noted that the focal points described here are relative to the front camera. That is, the focal points described should be interpreted as, for example, a setup focal point. The focal point of the front camera is different from the focal point of the rear camera, because the front camera and the rear camera face in opposite directions. However, all four cameras, i.e., each of the two front cameras and each of the two rear cameras, are disposed on the camera carrier at an equal distance from the focal point to ensure that the front cameras cover the same focal point (i.e., the setup focal point) field of view, and the rear cameras converge the same focal point (i.e., the isocenter focal point) field of view.

[0024] Thus, in one embodiment, the front camera and the second front camera include fields of view that intersect at the setup focus of the camera carrier, and the rear camera and the second rear camera include fields of view that intersect with the treatment focus of a bore-based medical system.

[0025] In an embodiment, at least one or more cameras are mounted on a first arch of a ring-shaped body. The first arch includes a front body portion and a rear body portion, the front body portion and the rear body portion are connected to form a width of the partially ring-shaped body, and the treatment monitoring camera is configured to be mounted on the partially ring-shaped body equidistant from a line of symmetry of the partially ring-shaped body. It should be noted that this described first arch including one or more of the described cameras may be mounted within the interior space of the bore-based medical system. However, as will be apparent throughout this disclosure, the arch can also be mounted on the outer surface of the inner surface of the through bore. This structure allows for easy mounting and removal of the camera carrier within the bore-based medical system, for example, during system servicing and / or system calibration or repositioning.

[0026] In a further development of this embodiment, the first arch is configured to be connected at a first end to a left arch and at a second end to a right arch, each of the left and right arches being connected to the first arch via a substantially flexible joint. This configuration allows for easy installation and removal of the camera carrier within the bore-based medical system.

[0027] In a further embodiment, the left and right arches may be connected through an adjustable expansion element, which may be configured to be adjusted to a first expansion stage that forces the left and right arches apart from each other, and a second expansion stage that relaxes the first expansion stage. With this structure, the left and right arches may be expanded to allow the arches to frictionally abut and connect with the inside of the bore-based medical system. The expansion element may be considered as an adjustable spring solution that ensures that the camera carrier can be rigidly attached to the bore-based medical system. Thus, easy installation and removal of the camera carrier within the bore of the bore-based medical system is provided.

[0028] In still further embodiments, the camera carrier may include a gasket attached to the periphery of the camera carrier over at least a portion of the camera carrier.

[0029] The function of the camera carrier is to be attached to a bore-based medical system, for example, a radiotherapy system, and the camera carrier is configured to monitor the patient during the setup phase and / or the treatment phase. Thus, in an aspect of the present disclosure, a bore-based medical system is provided. The bore-based medical system is configured to accommodate the camera carrier described in the embodiments herein therein, the bore-based medical system includes a ring gantry containing a radiotherapy beam, the ring gantry surrounds a through bore configured to accommodate a movable couch configured to move in and out of the bore, the through bore includes an inner surface facing the bore, and the camera carrier is configured to be attached to the inside of the bore in relation to the inner surface of the bore.

[0030] In one embodiment, the bore-based medical system is configured with an isocenter and a setup focus, the setup focus being configured as a point of correct positioning of the patient in terms of the patient's target area to be treated, the isocenter being configured as a focal point where the rotation axis of the gantry, the collimator of the bore-based medical system, and the couch intersect, and the camera carrier is configured to be mounted within the bore-based medical system to ensure that at least one of the one or more cameras is configured and oriented to include a field of view covering the isocenter when mounted on the camera carrier, and that at least a second of the one or more cameras is configured and oriented to include a field of view covering the setup focus when mounted on the camera carrier.

[0031] In a further embodiment, the bore-based medical system is configured to accommodate a camera carrier within the bore of the system, the camera carrier being positioned within the through bore at a midpoint between the set-up focus and the isocenter.

[0032] Throughout this disclosure, bore-based imaging and / or treatment systems are mentioned. It should be understood that such systems may be constituted by, for example, CT scanners, MR scanners, and / or bore-based radiation therapy systems. In general, the camera carrier described herein is considered suitable for use in medical imaging and / or treatment systems when such systems are constructed as a bore, and a patient is positioned on a couch within the bore during medical imaging and / or treatment. The bore-based system is configured as a structure surrounding a through bore, within which the couch can be moved in and out. A CT medical imaging system, an MR system, or a radiation therapy linac accelerator can be integrated within the surrounding structure of the bore. Thus, the bore includes an outer surface and an inner surface, which together define a hollow inner structure, within which, for example, components of a CT scanner, an MR scanner, and / or a radiation therapy linac accelerator are installed. More specifically, in a bore-based medical imaging and / or radiation therapy system, the device may include a ring gantry configured to apply a radiation beam toward a target area of ​​the patient during cancer treatment.

[0033] Aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The figures are schematic and simplified for clarity, and the figures only show details that enhance understanding of the claims, while other details are omitted. The same reference numbers are used throughout for the same or corresponding parts. Each individual feature of each aspect may be combined with any or all features of the other aspects. These and other aspects, features and / or technical advantages will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the examples set forth below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1A] 1 illustrates a front view of an embodiment of a camera carrier according to the present disclosure. [Figure 1B] 1B illustrates a rear view of the camera carrier of FIG. 1A. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1B illustrates a top view of the camera carrier of FIG. 1A. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1B illustrates a bottom view of the camera carrier of FIG. 1A. [Diagram 3] 2 illustrates representative exemplary embodiments of the front and rear cameras of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 5 illustrates a perspective partial side view of the camera of FIG. 4 with the front of the camera omitted. [Diagram 5] 5 illustrates a perspective front view of the camera of FIG. 4 with the camera portion omitted. [Figure 6] 5 illustrates a side view of the internal components of the camera of FIG. 4. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an embodiment of a camera carrier according to the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1B and 1A illustrates an embodiment of a camera carrier according to FIG. 1A, in which the camera carrier further includes a third front camera. [Figure 9] 8 illustrates an embodiment of the camera carrier according to FIG. 7, in which the camera carrier further includes a third front camera. [Figure 10] 1 illustrates an embodiment of a camera carrier when mounted within a bore-based medical system. [Figure 11] 1 is a schematic illustration of a bore-based medical system having a camera carrier mounted therein, illustrating the isocenter focus and setup focus of the camera carrier. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a camera carrier mounted within the bore-based medical system of FIG. 11, illustrating the isocenter focus and setup focus of the camera carrier. [Figure 13] 2A and 2B illustrate an embodiment of a camera carrier according to the present invention, showing the isocenter focus and the setup focus of the camera carrier, along with the camera hub, the couch monitoring camera, and additional LEDs on the camera carrier. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates a flow chart of a method used for calibrating a camera. [Figure 15] 1 illustrates a cross-section of the interior of a bore-based medical system, with two treatment monitoring cameras positioned on the side of the internal frame facing the interior space of the bore-based medical system. [Figure 16] 16 illustrates a cross section according to FIG. 15 from the top view of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a complete understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Several aspects of the devices and corresponding systems using the devices (including methods thereof) are described, and all of the aspects should be considered as part of the device and system disclosure and functional combinations. Thus, in the following description of the device and system embodiments, each of the device and system configurations and methods should be described independently and implemented in the described operative relationship.

[0036] (Bore-based medical system) Starting from FIG. 10, a bore based medical system 400 is illustrated, which includes a camera carrier 1 configured to be attached to the bore based medical system 400 and configured to monitor and / or track a patient's movement within the bore based medical system during radiation therapy. As illustrated, the bore based medical system 400 is configured with an outer frame structure 407 having a front side 403 and a back side 404. Further, an inner side 402 of the frame structure 407 is configured to form a through-going bore 401. The bore based medical system 400 includes a rotatable ring gantry (not shown) configured to emit a radiation therapy beam focused at an iso-center focus point of the bore based medical system, the ring gantry configured to rotate at least partially around the through-going bore 401. The ring gantry is configured to rotate within the frame structure 407 such that it is not visible to the naked eye when viewing the bore-based medical system. Thus, the frame structure 407 includes interior spaces (not shown) configured to receive different features of the bore-based medical system.

[0037] Additionally, through bore 401 is configured to receive, from a forward side 403, a movable couch (not shown) that is configured to move in and out of through bore 401.

[0038] As illustrated in Figures 10 and 15, two alternative methods of providing a camera carrier 1 in conjunction with a bore-based medical system are illustrated.

[0039] Starting with Fig. 15, a first alternative is to mount a camera carrier 1 according to the present disclosure within the interior space of a bore-based medical system. That is, in this embodiment, as illustrated in Fig. 15, the camera carrier 1 is configured to be mounted to an interior surface of a bore in relation to an interior surface 402 of a through bore 401 in one embodiment. In this embodiment, as illustrated in Fig. 15, an interior frame side 409 facing the interior space of the bore-based system (not shown), about which the gantry substantially rotates, is configured to mount at least two treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b thereon.

[0040] More specifically, the camera carrier 1 includes at least two treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b that are mounted in association with an inner surface 402 of the through bore 401 and that are mutually configured to cover a field of view that includes the isocenter focal point 23 of the bore-based medical system 400 (best shown in Figures 11 and 12). The two treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b are configured to record images of a patient lying on a movable couch during radiation therapy to enable monitoring and / or tracking of any movements made by the patient.

[0041] As is evident from Fig. 10, an alternative mounting of the two treatment monitoring cameras is to mount the cameras directly on the "bore facing part" of the inner surface 402 of the bore-based medical system. In either alternative, the cameras are mounted inside the bore, solving the problem of enabling surface guided radiotherapy, especially for breast cancer patients, when treated with radiotherapy. Mounting the treatment monitoring cameras inside the bore allows a sufficient view of the patient or at least a part of the patient, when the patient lies inside the through bore, to record images.

[0042] Thus, a treatment monitoring camera configuration mounted within the bore, either integrally with the inner side of the through bore (i.e., with the internal frame side 409 mentioned above) and / or mounted on the outer side of the "inner side" of the bore, allows the camera to image the patient lying within the bore. For example, images recorded by the treatment monitoring camera during radiation therapy treatments allow surface-guided radiation therapy in bore-based medical systems, which was not possible before. Such surface-guided radiation therapy is particularly meaningful when treating breast patients in bore-based medical systems, where it is necessary to be able to track the patient's breathing during treatment to avoid damage to healthy tissue around the tumor as the person's breast rises and falls during the respiratory cycle. Such breast cancer treatments were not possible before in bore-based medical systems due to the lack of a camera system that provides a sufficient view of the patient within the through bore, which is solved by the camera configuration, placement, and mounting as described herein.

[0043] More specifically, as illustrated in Figures 15 and 16, the bore-based medical system 400 includes an internal space (not shown) between an internal frame side 407 facing the internal space of the bore-based medical system and an internal surface 402, a rotatable gantry is configured to rotate within the internal space, and the two treatment monitoring cameras are configured to be mounted within the internal space, and the internal surface 402 includes a transparent area at a wavelength visible to the camera 408, enabling, for each of the treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b, the treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b to record the image of a patient positioned within the field of view of the treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b covering at least the isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system.

[0044] It should be noted that in one embodiment, the transparent area 408 may simply be a hole in the material of the inner surface 402 through which the cameras 201a, 201v may "look." Thus, the camera lens (hereinafter the camera viewing surface) does not need to be covered with an additional layer of material when integrally attached to the inner surface of the bore. Rather, the camera's "viewing surface" may be substantially flush with the inner surface 402.

[0045] In the embodiment according to Fig. 15 and Fig. 16, where the two treatment monitoring cameras 201a, 201b are integrated in the internal frame side 409, it should be understood that if the internal side 402 illustrated in Fig. 10 is made transparent at the wavelengths visible to the cameras, each of the two treatment monitoring cameras can be seen under the material of the internal side 402. Thus, in the alternative of Fig. 15 and Fig. 16, the treatment monitoring cameras are arranged on the internal side (i.e. 409) of the internal side 402, and in the alternative of Fig. 10, the two treatment monitoring cameras are arranged on the outer side of the internal side 402 of the through bore. In both cases, the camera structure and its mounting are substantially the same and will therefore be described in more detail in a general way below. Thus, it should be understood that the following description can be explained for alternative mountings of the treatment monitoring cameras.

[0046] Furthermore, in the following, the camera carrier with at least two treatment monitoring cameras will be described to include further configurations in alternative embodiments. It should be understood that while the two treatment monitoring cameras are necessary to solve the main problem of being able to track the patient during radiotherapy while the patient is lying on a couch in the bore, the remaining configurations (especially two or more additional cameras) are options that can be added to the camera carrier to improve the surface-guided tracking setup in the bore-based medical system. Thus, in the following, the camera carrier will be described in more detail in terms of different combinable embodiments. The camera carrier will also be referred to as a carrier body throughout this description.

[0047] 1A and 1B, a front view and a rear view, respectively, of a camera carrier 1 are illustrated in a first embodiment. The camera carrier 1 is configured to be attached to a bore-based medical system, for example, as illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, which show two examples of camera carriers according to the figures described herein.

[0048] As illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the camera carrier 1 includes at least a partially ring-shaped body 10. The partially ring-shaped body should be interpreted as at least an arch formed in such a way that it is inserted into a hollow bore of a bore-based medical system. The ring-shaped body 10 of the camera carrier 1 includes a front body part 11 and a back body part 21, which are connected to form a width (w) of the ring-shaped body 10 (see FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B). Furthermore, the ring-shaped body 10 includes at least one front part camera 100a, 100b, which is at least one camera of one or more cameras mounted in the ring-shaped body 10. In addition, the ring-shaped body 10 of the camera carrier 1 also includes at least one back part camera 200a, 200b, which is at least one camera of one or more cameras mounted in the ring-shaped body 10. It should be noted that two front cameras 100a, 100b and two rear cameras 200a, 200b are illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B, which is only a preferred embodiment. An embodiment including only one front camera 100a and one rear camera 200a can be envisioned.

[0049] The front camera 100a and the rear camera 200b are configured to be mounted within the structure of the ring-shaped body 10 and are shown in Figures 1A and 1B, and have camera viewing surfaces 101a, 101b, i.e., forward viewing surfaces, and rear viewing surfaces 201a, 201b facing viewing areas on either side of the ring-shaped body 10.

[0050] In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B, the ring-shaped body 10 includes at least two front cameras 100a, 100b with forward viewing surfaces 101a, 101b facing the forward viewing area of ​​the ring-shaped body 10, and the ring-shaped body on the opposing rear body part 21 includes at least two rear cameras 200a, 200b with rear viewing surfaces 201a, 201b (see Figure 1B) facing the rear viewing area of ​​the ring-shaped body 10. As illustrated in Figure 1A, the two front cameras 100a, 100b are mounted on the ring-shaped body 10 equidistant from the line of symmetry 13 of the partially ring-shaped body 10. Similarly, as illustrated in Figure 1B, the two rear cameras 200a, 200b are also mounted equidistant from the line of symmetry 13 of the partially ring-shaped body 10.

[0051] Now, referring to FIG. 1A, which illustrates a bottom view of the camera carrier 1 according to FIG. 1B, and FIG. 2A, which illustrates a top view of the camera carrier 10 according to FIG. 2B, the structure of the camera carrier 1 and the front cameras 100a, 100b and rear cameras 200a, 200b mounted thereon are illustrated in more detail. As can be seen, the ring-shaped body 10 includes a first substantially back-to-back camera arrangement 12a, where the first front camera 100a is mounted substantially back-to-back with the first rear camera 200a. Furthermore, as explained in relation to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, on the opposite side of the symmetry line 13, a second back-to-back camera arrangement 12b is arranged in the ring-shaped body 10, where the second front camera 100b is mounted substantially back-to-back with the second rear camera 200b.

[0052] The front cameras 100a, 100b are configured with an internal camera mirror angled relative to the front viewing surfaces 101a, 101b, 201a, 201b to allow the viewing surfaces 101a, 101b to transfer the incident light to the image sensor inside the camera, and the rear cameras 200a, 200b are similarly configured with an internal camera mirror angled relative to the rear viewing surfaces 201a, 201b. It should be noted that the "viewing surface" should be interpreted as the surface of the camera where the reflected light from the target enters the camera. Within the camera, the mirror is oriented to reflect the light onto a lens, which then transfers the light onto the image sensor in a standard manner. A more detailed description of these internal camera parameters and their structure, in one embodiment, is described in connection with Figures 6 to 9.

[0053] In the embodiments described herein, each of the first and second front cameras may include a projector 113 configured to project light onto a target configured to be located within the field of view of one or more of the cameras. Such a projector 113 is configured as a small protrusion extending outward from the viewing faces 101a, 101b, 201a, and 201b of the front cameras 100a, 100b and rear cameras 200a, 200b, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 1A for the front cameras 100a, 100b and in FIG. 1B for the rear cameras 200a, 200b. Note that "field of view" in the context of this disclosure should be interpreted as the extent of the observable world seen by the mirror of the camera at any given moment, i.e., as the field of view 131, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0054] As is clear from the figures, the front cameras 100a, 100b and the rear cameras 200a, 200b in the preferred embodiment have the same camera structure. Therefore, to facilitate understanding of the internal camera structure covering these aforementioned cameras of the camera carrier 1, please refer to Figures 3 to 6.

[0055] Starting initially with Figure 3, a front view of an example back-to-back camera configuration 12a, 12b in accordance with Figures 2A and 2B is illustrated. This back-to-back configuration can be either the first back-to-back configuration 12a or the second back-to-back configuration 12b.

[0056] As can be seen in the figures, the back-to-back configuration 12a, 12b includes a front camera 100a oriented substantially back-to-back with a rear camera 200a, for example, according to the embodiment of Figures 2A and 2B. The front camera 100a is used as an example to describe a camera structure suitable for all front and rear cameras described herein. Thus, the front camera 100a (as well as the rear camera 200a, the second front camera 100b, and the second rear camera 200b) includes a front surface 110, which is composed of a camera mount surface 111 and a second surface 112 including a forward viewing surface 101a. As can be seen in Figure 3, the second surface 112 with the forward viewing surface 101a is angled with an angle γ with respect to the camera mount surface 111. This allows two filters 114a, 114b (only one shown) to face downward toward a focal point 22, exemplified by the focal point for the front camera of the camera carrier (see FIG. 7). Additionally, in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a camera hub 129 is illustrated, which is configured to synchronize all the cameras, provide power to the cameras, and distribute signals to and from each of the cameras. Thus, all the cameras are electrically connected to the camera hub 129. Note that other embodiments illustrate two camera hubs as examples, but preferably only one is needed.

[0057] As also seen in FIG. 3, the aforementioned projector 113 is configured to be placed on the second surface 112 enabling the projector to be angled to have a field of view 126 (illustrated by a single line in the camera's field of view 131) toward the focal point 22 of the camera carrier (see FIG. 7).

[0058] Furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment depicted in Fig. 3, two camera fixing elements 115a, 115b form part of the camera mounting surface 111. These fixing elements 115a, 115b are utilized to enable a camera to be mounted on the front body portion and / or the rear body portion of the ring-shaped body 10, as illustrated in Fig. 2A.

[0059] The fixing element in some embodiments may be located on the top of the camera, such as the backwards extending parts 116a, 216a of the camera illustrated in Fig. 3. In this way, the fixing of the camera may be from the top of the camera to the ring-shaped body. Other alternative methods of attaching the camera to the ring-shaped body are also possible and are considered by those skilled in the art.

[0060] With respect to a back-to-back configuration as defined throughout this disclosure, this should be understood as a configuration in which at least a portion of the back side of the front camera and at least a portion of the back side of the back camera substantially abut each other. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, this can be, for example, the back extensions 116a and 216a of the front camera 100a and the back camera 200a, respectively, which abut each other. In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), these back extensions 116a, 216b can be the back surfaces 117a, 217b of the front camera 100a and the back camera 200a, respectively, which abut each other.

[0061] The internal components of the front and rear cameras will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 4. Again, the front camera 100a is provided as an example, but it should be noted that the configuration described also forms part of the second front camera 100b, the first front camera 200a, and the second rear camera 200b.

[0062] In Fig. 4, the forward camera 100a is illustrated in a perspective view with at least some parts removed. Thus, as illustrated, the camera mounting surface 111 of the front surface 110, as illustrated in Fig. 3, has been removed, thereby allowing at least a portion of the camera's internal components to be viewed. As illustrated, the camera 100a includes the aforementioned filters 114a, 114b, which together substantially define the forward viewing surface 101a.

[0063] Further, the camera includes at least two internal mirrors 118a, 118b, a first mirror 118a disposed at a first end face 119a of the camera and a second mirror 118b disposed at a second end face 119b of the camera, each of the mirrors 118a, 118b including a mirror center 120b (illustrated by a small dot on the mirror) and a mirror center axis 121 (see also FIG. 5) defined between the mirror centers 120a, 120b (see also FIG. 5 for both mirror centers).

[0064] As further illustrated in Figure 4, camera 100a includes a first lens 123a and a second lens 123b disposed at opposing regions at a distance from a substrate 124, which holds, among other things, the camera's electronic components. Substrate 124 further includes an image sensor arrangement, with a first image sensor 122a mounted to a first side 124a of substrate 124 and a second image sensor (not shown) mounted to a second side 124b of substrate 124 (see Figure 5 for second side).

[0065] Although these internal camera configurations may be considered substantially standard configurations for cameras, in order for the camera to have a correct field of view when placed on a substantially ring-shaped body 10 to be mounted in a bore-based medical system where the camera body 101a is substantially parallel to the centerline of the bore, it is important that the orientation of the elements, i.e., the angular relationships between the mirrors, lenses and sensors, are suitable for a substantially "arched" (i.e., partly ring-shaped) configuration. Thus, the inventors have carefully considered these relationships and found that for such a camera configuration to be mounted in an arch, to substantially cover the required focal point of the bore-based medical system and to maximize the distance to the object to be imaged in the bore, the internal mirrors 118a, 118b may, in the illustrated preferred embodiment, for example, be as illustrated in FIG. 5. Here, mirrors 118a, 118b are arranged to form mirror angles α1, α2 between the plane of viewing surface 101a (illustrated by the dotted line in the brace by 101a) and mirror planes 125a, 125b, which are configured to be at least 45 degrees or greater so that the fields of view from each sensor converge. As further illustrated in FIG. 5, filter 114a is also angled with angles β1, β2 relative to viewing surface 101a, where angle β1=β2. More specifically, the relationship between mirror angles α1, α2 and filter angles β1, β2 is preferably given by:

number

[0066] This structural relationship between the mirror, filter, and viewing angle ensures that the camera has a sufficient field of view to cover the target area within the ring-shaped body when the ring-shaped body is inserted into the bore of the bore-based medical system. Furthermore, such an angle of the mirror, together with the sensor orientation as described below, allows the camera to be positioned within the camera ring, such that the top surface of the camera (exemplified by the rear extension 116a, 216a) is substantially parallel to the centerline of the ring-shaped body.

[0067] Thus, as mentioned above and further illustrated in Figures 4 to 6 and described below, camera 100a (and similarly 100b, 200a, 200b) may include at least a first image sensor 122a configured to be positioned on the camera's substrate 124 at a distance from the first mirror center 120b, and a second image sensor (not shown) configured to be positioned on the opposite side of the substrate 124 from the first image sensor 122a at a distance from the second mirror center 120a, and the mirror planes 125a, 125b of the first mirror 118a and second mirror 118b, respectively, are configured to be oriented at an angle α1, α2 relative to the plane of the camera's viewing surface 101a, where α1 is equal to α2.

[0068] Furthermore, the first image sensor 122a (and similarly the second image sensor) comprises a first sensor axis 122a' and a second sensor axis 122a" perpendicular to the first sensor axis 122a', and as illustrated in FIG. 6, at least one of the first sensor axis 122a' or the second sensor axis 122a" is arranged perpendicular 101a" to the plane 101a' of the viewing surface 101a and parallel to the first mirror axis 125a' of said mirror plane 125a. In this regard, reference is made to FIG. 6, in which all the above-mentioned axes are illustrated and provided with numbers that allow a proper understanding of the internal structure of the camera. In particular, the inventors have considered that the sensor orientation with respect to the plane 101a' of the viewing surface is important, since it allows the camera body to be arranged parallel to the centerline of the bore.

[0069] In other words, it can be said that the first mirror axis and the first or second sensor axis are arranged parallel to the axis of the plane 101a' of the viewing surface 101a. This structure allows the working distance from the camera to the object to be directed into the camera's field of view to be maximized. If the image sensor was conventionally mounted, to achieve the same effect, the entire camera would need to be tilted and, as a result, offset by the length of the camera multiplied by the sine of the tilt angle, which reduces the working distance. In the limited space of the bore in a bore-based medical system, this structure represents a significant increase in the working distance. One advantage of the structure described herein is that occlusion decreases with working distance and the field of view increases for a given lens focal length. Working closer with a shorter focal length increases occlusion and means larger lens distortion due to a lens with a very short focal length.

[0070] Therefore, this internal structure of the camera allows the camera to be mounted in an arch shape (i.e., a partially ring-shaped camera carrier), while ensuring that the camera covers a field of view that covers the desired target area of ​​the bore-based medical system, as described in more detail in a later part of this disclosure. In other words, the configuration of the front camera and the rear camera, together with the internal structure of these cameras (as described in connection with the exemplary front camera), ensures that the front camera and the rear camera view the same object at the same angle, but from opposite directions toward the object, thus sufficiently covering the setup focus and the treatment focus of the bore-based medical system, respectively.

[0071] Now, referring to FIG. 7, the camera carrier 1 is energized in an embodiment, and the aforementioned front cameras 100a, 100b and rear cameras 200a, 200b are mounted in the ring-shaped body 10 of the camera carrier. As illustrated in FIG. 7 and described above with respect to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, the front cameras 100a, 100b and rear cameras 200a, 200b are substantially symmetrically arranged in the ring-shaped body 10 at equal distances from the symmetry line 13 of the ring-shaped body 10. This configuration in the ring-shaped body 10, together with the internal structure of the cameras as just described, allows the first front camera 100a and the second front camera 100b to cover the same field of view, thus allowing targets located within the field of view of the cameras to be efficiently seen by the cameras. This "target position" can also be defined as the front facing focus point 22 of the ring-shaped body. Thus, in other words, the ring-shaped body 10 may include a front focal point 22 (and / or a rear focal point for the rear camera), and the first back-to-back camera arrangement 12a and the second back-to-back camera arrangement 12b are positioned within or on the ring-shaped body at substantially the same radial distance and field of view angle from the focal point.

[0072] More specifically, the camera carrier may include at least two different focal points with its front camera 100a, 100b and rear camera 200a, 200b. That is, the front camera 100a, 100b has a viewing plane that faces substantially downward and forward of the camera carrier, while the viewing plane of the rear camera 200a, 200b substantially mirrors the viewing plane of the front camera, thus generating a second viewing plane that faces substantially downward and backward of the camera carrier. Thus, the camera carrier can be said to be configured with the field of view of the front camera intersecting at the setup focus of the camera carrier and the field of view of the rear camera 200a, 200b intersecting at the treatment focus of the camera carrier. This is particularly meaningful to note in view of the correct placement of the camera carrier in a bore-based medical system, as will become clear.

[0073] Referring again to FIG. 7, the camera carrier 1 is illustrated in an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the camera carrier 1 is formed as a ring-shaped body, and not only as a partially ring-shaped body such as an arch, as in the previous figures. As seen in FIG. 7, the camera carrier 1 includes an arch part as described in connection with FIG. 1A-FIG. 2B, and the front camera 100a, 100b and the rear camera 200a, 200b are mounted on this first arch part of the completely ring-shaped body. It should be noted that the "first arch" illustrated in FIG. 7 corresponds to the arch of the ring-shaped body 10 as described in connection with FIG. 1A-FIG. 2B. Furthermore, the camera is the same as that described in connection with FIG. 3-FIG. 6.

[0074] More specifically, the camera carrier 1 illustrated in Figures 7 and 9 includes a first arch 14, which is configured to be connected to a left arch 15 at a first end 14a and to a right arch 16 at a second end 14b. As illustrated in Figure 7, each of the left arch 15 and the right arch 16 is connected to the first arch 14 via a substantially flexible joint 18a, 18b. The left arch 15 and the right arch 16 are further connected to each other through an adjustable expansion element, which is configured to be adjusted to a first expansion stage that moves the left arch 15 and the right arch 16 away from each other and a second stage that relaxes the first expansion stage. Thus, when the ring-shaped camera carrier 1, 10 is mounted in a bore-based medical system as described herein, the left arch 15 and the right arch 16 (also the sides indicated) are pushed apart, which pushes the flexible joints 18a, 18b, allowing the left arch 15 and the right arch 16 to rotate relative to the first arch 14, thereby allowing the circular shape of the ring-shaped camera carrier 1. This rotation of the arches 15, 16 via the flexible joints 18a, 18b may cause the ring-shaped camera carrier to form a corresponding ring-shaped structure inside the bore-based medical system. The extension element 17 allows a constant pushing force on the arches 15, 16, which makes the arches, and thus the ring-shaped structure, stay in place when mounted in the bore-based medical system. It should be noted that the ring-shaped structure is preferably held in place in the bore-based medical system by frictional forces.

[0075] It should therefore be noted that in one embodiment, once the first arch 14, left arch 15, and right arch 16 are joined, the three arches together form a circle (i.e., a ring) whose outer diameter is the same as the inner diameter of the bore-based medical system.

[0076] To ensure a high friction interface between the inner surface of the bore of the bore-based medical system and the outer surface of the camera carrier 1, the camera carrier includes, at least in part, a gasket attached to the outer periphery of the camera carrier. This is illustrated, for example, in Fig. 7, where the gasket part is indicated with 19. As can be seen from Fig. 7, the gasket in this embodiment covers only a part of the outer periphery of the camera carrier, but this should not exclude the possibility of applying a continuous gasket covering the entire circumference of the ring-shaped camera carrier 1. Furthermore, the rubber gasket is configured to damp external vibrations that may be transmitted to the bore from third party equipment.

[0077] Thus, the solution, in a preferred embodiment, is to form a ring (i.e., a ring-shaped body) that is inserted inside the bore of the bore-based medical system and held in place by a substantially outward force towards the bore (i.e., via an expansion element). This avoids having a complex mounting structure to hold the camera carrier in place, while at the same time exerting minimal force against the bore structure. A gasket, such as a soft rubber gasket, is used between the camera "ring" and the bore to ensure a high friction interface to the bore.

[0078] Now, referring to FIG. 5, an example of a projector arrangement in a camera is described. Again, the front camera 100a is taken as an example. It should be understood that the projectors are similarly configured with the rear camera 100b, the rear camera 200a, and the second rear camera 200b. As illustrated, the projector 113 is configured to be connected to the substrate 124 (i.e., PCB) at the lower side portion 124c of the substrate. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the projector 113 includes a first projector 127 and a second projector 128. These may be configured as a dual dot projector, such as a pair of commercially available dot projector VCSEL devices. These projectors are arranged in the camera to be well-fitted for 3D reconstruction camera. Thus, a unique configuration of projectors is one in which the projectors are arranged on the projector PCB 124d connected to the main board 124 in such a way that the first projector is rotated 45 degrees relative to the second projector. This is clearly illustrated in FIG. 5, where it can be seen that the two projectors are angled with respect to each other at an angle β. The preferred angle β is 45 degrees, but the angular rotation between the two projectors can be selected from the following ranges: 0°<β<90°, 90°<β<180°, 180°<β<270°, 270°<β<360°. By rotating either the first or second projector with respect to each other at an angle β, it is ensured that the projected pattern is locally unique, making the 3D reconstruction of the recorded object more reliable and robust. That is, the pattern is regular, where there is more detail in the pattern by using two projectors. Locally, there is no replenishment, but over larger areas the pattern repeats. This can affect the stereo seed pointing (finding similar parts in the image first). When two cameras are projected onto a surface, this adds more deformation to the projected pattern.It should be noted that the dual dot projector configuration as illustrated in FIG. 5 can be implemented in any other suitable manner that supports 3D reconstruction, and therefore this description should be considered as an example only.

[0079] (Bed monitoring camera) 8, an embodiment showing a camera carrier 1 with a further camera is shown in a side perspective view. The illustrated embodiment corresponds to the camera carrier structure as described in relation to Figures 1 to 2B, in which a third front camera 300 is further mounted on the ring-shaped (substantially arch-shaped) body 10 of the camera carrier 1.

[0080] As can be seen in the figure, the third forward camera 300 is substantially centrally positioned relative to the first back-to-back camera arrangement 12a and the second back-to-back camera arrangement 12b, and the third forward camera 300 is configured with a lens orientation having a field of view covering at least a portion of the bed of the bore-based medical system in a ring-shaped body mounting state.

[0081] Thus, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, the camera carrier includes at least five cameras, two cameras (i.e., two front cameras 100a, 100b) configured to cover a field of view including a patient located on the bed in a setup phase when the camera carrier 1 is attached to the bore-based medical system, two rear cameras 200a, 200b configured to cover a field of view including a patient located on the bed in a treatment phase when the camera carrier 1 is attached to the bore-based medical system, and one middle camera 300 configured to monitor the bed or a marker on the bed of the bore-based medical system when the camera carrier 1 is attached to the bore-based medical system. Thus, the middle central camera is substantially configured to monitor the bed of the bore-based medical system and is therefore also called a bed monitoring camera.

[0082] More specifically, the couch monitoring camera may include a near-infrared illuminator, such as an LED, configured to illuminate, for example, retroreflective markers, for example, in the treatment room of the bore-based medical system. The retroreflective markers may be positioned, for example, on the couch of the bore-based medical system to enable the couch monitoring camera to monitor any movement of the couch. Thus, the near-infrared illuminator may be configured to be pulsed in time with the sensor exposure, which minimizes power consumption and therefore heat output from the LED.

[0083] In another exemplary embodiment, the couch monitoring camera may be configured without an infrared illuminator and may instead record signals from, for example, active markers on the couch of, for example, a bore-based medical system.

[0084] In still further exemplary embodiments, the couch monitoring camera may be configured to track objects positioned on or at least in relation to the couch.

[0085] Typically, the couch monitoring camera is configured to monitor couch movement in all directions to enable tracking of a patient positioned on the couch, for example to assess whether the patient and / or couch have been moved relative to the setup focus and / or the isocenter focus of, for example, a bore-based medical system. This is to ensure that the front and rear cameras can compensate for any couch movement when generating the 3D surface of the patient positioned on the couch. Furthermore, the couch monitoring camera may be configured in some embodiments to independently verify couch movement.

[0086] Referring now to Fig. 9, a complete ring-shaped camera carrier 1 is illustrated in a perspective front view of the camera carrier 1, as also described in relation to Fig. 7. The camera carrier includes the features previously described in relation to Fig. 8, and further illustrates an extension element 17. The left arch 15 and the right arch 16 are connected to each other through an adjustable extension element 17, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 9, which is configured to be adjusted to a first extension stage that moves the left arch 15 and the right arch 16 away from each other, and a second stage that relieves the first extension stage. Also, as can be seen in this embodiment, a gasket 19 (or gasket components all designated 19) is configured to cover at least a portion of the ring-shaped body on its periphery.

[0087] It should be noted that the camera and ring-shaped body described herein are preferably made from lightweight construction, such as composite materials and / or aluminum, that allow minimal loading on the bore when mounted within a bore-based medical system. In general, the material and profile of the ring-shaped body are selected to have as little effect as possible on the dose from the radiation therapy gantry.

[0088] Furthermore, the third front camera should be considered as a couch monitoring camera, configured substantially as a stereoscopic camera, optionally featuring near infrared LED(s), for example, to illuminate markers on the couch of the bore-based medical system. The couch monitoring camera (also referred to as the third front camera) is configured to track any couch movements, sags, etc., that may occur and that may affect the accuracy of further processing of the images recorded by the camera of the ring carrier. Thus, in an embodiment, the third front camera is configured to track markers on the couch, which markers are active, in which case no illumination from the third front camera is required. In another exemplary embodiment, the third front camera is configured to track structures or shapes on the couch that have a uniquely identifiable configuration, from which the center of gravity or mass can be determined. Another variation is for the couch monitoring camera to monitor the edge of the couch that protrudes into the bore. This allows for tracking couch movements and sags. The couch monitoring camera avoids the need for any integration with third party equipment; instead, the couch location is recorded when the patient is set up in a reference position during the set-up phase. All subsequent couch movements can be tracked, so the exact shift in 3D space can be estimated when the couch is moved from the set-up location (room or external isocenter) to the treatment position.

[0089] Now referring to FIG. 8 (or similarly to FIGS. 2A and 2B), the camera carrier 1 may further include one or more camera hubs 129, 130 in some embodiments, which are substantially composed of electronic components configured to enable communication between the cameras, the bore-based medical system, and a processing unit configured to process data recorded by the cameras. The camera hubs 129, 130 are configured to enable synchronization of the first and second front cameras and the first and second rear cameras. The camera hubs 129, 130 include a standard USB-C cable configured to be used to synchronize the cameras. The USB-C includes interconnects for the connection of monitors, microphones, and other peripherals, which are Sideband Use signals (SBU1 and SBU2). These Sideband Use signals are used to provide specific functions for the cameras used in this environment, specifically camera synchronization and mute signals for lighting systems used by the cameras, such as the dual dot projector 113. The cameras may be configured as one master camera and multiple slave cameras, or all as slave cameras, in which case the synchronization signal is generated by a camera control unit or an external system. Similarly, the signal to mute the projector can be controlled by a selected master camera of one or more cameras of the camera carrier, or by a camera control unit that can itself generate the signal or pass it through from an external system. Note that FIG. 8 shows an embodiment in which there are two camera hubs. However, it should be noted that only one hub can also be used, and therefore at least one of the camera hubs illustrated in FIG. 8 can be omitted (see also the embodiment of FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B in which there is only one camera hub).

[0090] (Camera carrier bore based medical system configuration) 10 and 11, the camera carrier 1 of the aforementioned embodiment is illustrated in a mounting position in a bore-based medical system 400. FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the camera carrier, whereas FIG. 11 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the camera carrier. It should be noted that the camera structure illustrated in FIG. 11 substantially corresponds to the camera structure of FIG. 1A-3, etc. Thus, generally with respect to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, a bore-based medical system 400 is configured to have a camera carrier 1 mounted therein according to any one of the aforementioned embodiments. The bore-based medical system 400 generally includes a ring gantry containing a radiotherapy beam, the ring gantry surrounding a through-going bore 401 configured to receive a movable couch (not shown) configured to move in and out of the through-going bore 401. The through-going bore 401 includes an inner surface 402 facing the inside of the bore. As illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the camera carrier 1 comprises its at least partially ring-shaped body 10 (as described in the previous embodiment) and is configured to be mounted inside the bore 401 in relation to the inner surface 402 of the bore 401. The mounting of the ring-shaped body 10 of the camera carrier 1 in a bore-based medical system is described in more detail in relation to Figures 7 and 9, to which reference is made.

[0091] As further illustrated in Figure 11, the bore-based medical system is configured to include an isocenter and a set-up focus, where the set-up focus 24 is configured as the correct positioning point of the patient in terms of the patient's target area to be treated, and the isocenter focus 23 is configured as the focus where the rotation axis of the gantry, the collimator of the bore-based medical system, and the couch intersect. Note that the gantry parts are substantially hidden within the bore structure of the bore-based medical system and therefore are not shown in further detail.

[0092] When the camera carrier 1 is mounted in the bore-based medical system 400, at least one of the one or more cameras is configured and oriented to include a field of view covering the isocenter 23 during the mounting phase of the camera carrier, and at least a second of the one or more cameras is configured and oriented to include a field of view covering the set-up focus 24 during the mounting phase of the camera carrier. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 12 and previously described in connection with the camera carrier, the camera carrier 1 is configured such that the front camera covers a field of view intersecting at the set-up focus 24 of the bore-based medical system, and the rear camera covers a field of view intersecting at the isocenter focus 23. This allows the camera carrier 1 to monitor the patient during the set-up phase of the patient on the bed as well as during the treatment phase of the patient, as previously described.

[0093] In Fig. 13, further details of the embodiment of the camera carrier according to Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B are illustrated. As can be seen, the camera carrier 1 includes the front cameras 101a, 101b as in the previous embodiment, and also includes the rear cameras 201a, 201b. In addition, the camera carrier is configured with the aforementioned bed monitoring camera 300 and at least one camera hub 129 in this embodiment. As can be seen, the camera hub 129 is located at another end of the camera carrier 1 than illustrated in Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B, which is merely illustrative of other possible positions of the camera hub 129. Furthermore, the camera carrier 1 is further configured with LEDs 30 in this embodiment, which have the functions described herein, for example, for illuminating a calibration plate, a retro-reflective marker in a bore-based medical system, or for illuminating the patient to allow a sufficient view of the patient lying on the bed. Thus, the LEDs point downward to provide an "LED field of view" that covers the bed of the bore-based medical system when the camera carrier 1 is installed in the bore-based medical system. In addition to these configurations, this embodiment also illustrates from a perspective top view of the camera carrier 1 the isocenter focus 23 and the setup focus 24 that are used by the camera carrier 1 when it is inserted into the bore-based medical system, as previously described.

[0094] In alternative embodiments, the camera carrier may be attached as an integral part of the inner surface of the bore of the bore-based medical system. For example, referring to FIG. 10, an exemplary camera carrier is configured to be disposed on the inner surface 402 of the through bore. In an alternative construction (not shown in greater detail), the camera carrier may be disposed to be covered by the inner surface 402 and thus hidden within the internal structure of the bore. In such an embodiment, the inner surface 402 is configured with a camera aperture in the material of the inner surface 402 to allow the camera to view the intended focus of the bore-based medical system 400.

[0095] To ensure that the camera carrier is correctly positioned within the bore of the bore-based medical system, the camera carrier may be configured in some embodiments to have markers disposed thereon. In such embodiments, the markers are configured such that they allow for alignment with a laser within the chamber of the bore-based medical system. Lasers within the chamber are themselves a standard configuration to ensure correct installation and calibration of the bore-based medical system. These lasers can be used to ensure that the camera carrier is correctly positioned within the bore of the bore-based medical system via aligning the markers with the laser, as will also be described.

[0096] Furthermore, to ensure that the camera covers the correct focus of the bore-based medical system and that the same camera can be used for the front and rear cameras, the camera carrier is positioned within the through bore 401 at a midpoint between the setup focus and the isocenter.

[0097] (Calibrating the camera on the camera carrier) A series of calibration steps may be used to ensure that the camera of the camera carrier covers the correct field of view when it is inserted into the bore of the bore-based medical system. The patient is set up according to a pre-treatment plan that provides information about the target area to be treated by radiation therapy and thus about the positioning of the patient on the bed of the bore-based medical system with respect to the isocenter of the bore-based medical system. It is therefore very important that the camera carrier is precisely calibrated and mounted with respect to the isocenter of the bore-based medical system to enable motion tracking of the patient's surface and thereby to allow the health care professional to easily evaluate whether the patient has left the position with respect to the pre-planned target area. Thus, the steps of such a calibration method are described in more detail below.

[0098] Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 14, the calibration of the camera substantially follows the following steps: In a first step 501, after mounting the camera carrier to the bore-based medical system, a calibration plate and / or a phantom is positioned on the bed outside the bore-based medical system. Then, in a second step 502, the front camera calibration is started (i.e., setup calibration). In this step 502, the calibration plate is first aligned 503 with the setup laser in the bore-based medical treatment room. Then, in step 504, the front camera is configured to obtain an image of a calibration object. The subsequent procedure for calibrating the front camera is substantially as described in published US Pat. No. 6,393,433, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0099] Once the anterior camera is calibrated, the couch is moved to the treatment position in step 505 to enable calibration of the posterior camera to ensure accurate isocenter view of the camera and to ensure that the 3D reconstructed surface of the patient can be aligned with the isocenter configuration, which is required to enable accurate motion monitoring of the patient.

[0100] Prior to starting the rear camera calibration 601 subsequence or alternatively at the same time, the couch movement (distance, direction, etc.) may be recorded and output to a processor of the system. This processor may be configured to compare the actual couch movement with pre-set couch movement data to allow verification that the couch has moved as expected. See steps 506 and 507. This is to ensure that the couch is moving as expected and thus the calibration plate, phantom or object is still positioned as expected with respect to the isocenter of the bore-based medical system. Thus, in one embodiment, the couch monitoring camera may actively monitor the couch movement during the calibration step.

[0101] After the bed movement in step 505, a subsequent rear camera calibration 601 is initiated. The calibration steps corresponding to the rear camera calibration 601 are described in detail in the published patent application EP 1 233 636 A1.

[0102] It should be noted that in the calibration steps according to the present disclosure, only one calibration object is used, and the calibration object is positioned in a position on the couch in the first front camera calibration stage and remains in this position on the couch when the couch is moved into the bore and moved to the treatment position.

[0103] Therefore, in one embodiment, the calibration object includes high friction feet to ensure that the calibration object remains in the same position on the couch when the couch moves. If the calibration object moves away from its initial position, misalignment of the setup camera (front camera) and the treatment monitoring camera (rear camera) will occur, and is therefore avoided by avoiding such high friction feet. Furthermore, during the movement of the couch into the bore, movement of the calibration object can be detected by referencing the new calibration with previously stored calibration data to assess whether the calibration object itself has moved on the couch. In this way, a quality check can be performed on the calibration object.

[0104] A further way to check the inter-patient movement of the ring is to record the plane of the unloaded couch before each patient is positioned on it, and then compare the plane of the couch top. This should be completely consistent if the plane of the couch top changes, i.e. the planes are at an angle to each other, then the ring is knocked and recalibration is required.

[0105] It should be noted that in one embodiment, all cameras can be intrinsically calibrated prior to the calibration method described in relation to Figure 14, in which case the calibration object used in the bore-based system is used purely for extrinsic calibration. Alternatively, all cameras can be intrinsically and extrinsically calibrated by this process.

[0106] In an embodiment, the calibration object may optionally feature internal markers for co-calibration with the treatment system. That is, the camera of the camera carrier may be configured to record an image of the external surface of the calibration object, the calibration object including blob features on the surface. In addition to this, the treatment system may be configured to record an image of the internal markers of the calibration object, the internal markers being configured to be illuminated, for example, on an X-ray image taken by the treatment system. By taking into account the external surface image with the internal marker X-ray image, it is possible to find the relationship between the two sets of images and determine the 3D transformation required to map the image data recorded from the camera carrier to the coordinate system of the treatment system. In this way, it is ensured that the images provided by the camera carrier for motion monitoring are accurately aligned with the treatment system.

[0107] In one embodiment, the calibration object is a self-illuminating plate that includes two illumination wavelengths, which allows one illumination wavelength to be recorded and viewed by a video camera, but not by the human visual eye, while the second illumination wavelength is configured to be viewed by the visual eye, allowing a human to set up a bore-based medical system for patient treatment, etc., and visually align the calibration object to a laser in the bore-based medical system room.

[0108] The methods described herein may be performed by a computer readable medium. In some aspects, functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a tangible computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes a computer storage medium configured to store a computer program including program code that, when executed on a processing system, causes the data processing system to perform at least a portion (such as most or all) of the steps of the methods described above or claimed.

[0109] By way of example, and without limitation, such computer readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical disks, digital versatile disks, floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media. In addition to being stored on a tangible medium, a computer program may also be transmitted over a transmission medium, such as a wired or wireless link or network, e.g., the Internet, and loaded into a data processing system for execution at a location different from the location of the tangible medium.

[0110] Furthermore, the method may form part of a data processing system including a processor, the processor configured to execute a computer program to cause the processor to perform at least some (such as most or all) of the steps of the methods described herein.

[0111] The structural configurations of the camera carrier and bore-based medical system described above either in the detailed description and / or in the claims may be combined with the steps of the method when appropriately replaced by the corresponding processes.

[0112] When used, the singular forms are intended to include the plural (i.e., have the meaning of "at least one") unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes," "comprises," "including," and / or "comprising" as used herein specify the presence of stated structures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other structures, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, but that intervening elements may be present unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "connected" or "coupled" may be wirelessly connected or coupled. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The steps of any disclosed method are not limited to the precise order described herein, unless expressly stated otherwise.

[0113] It should be understood that throughout this specification, references to configurations included as "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "an aspect" or "may" mean that the particular configurations, structures, or features described in connection with an embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore, particular configurations, structures, or features may be combined as appropriate in one or more embodiments of the disclosure. The previous description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects.

[0114] The claims are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claim, wherein a reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one," unless specifically recited as "one and only one," but rather is intended to mean "one or more."

[0115] The scope should therefore be judged in terms of the claims which follow. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0116] [Patent Document 1] European Patent No. 3218871B2

Claims

1. A bore-based medical system including a ring-shaped camera carrier, the camera carrier is configured to be mounted within the bore-based medical system and configured to monitor and / or track patient movement within the bore-based medical system during radiation therapy, the bore-based medical system including a rotatable ring gantry configured to emit a radiation therapy beam focused at an isocenter of the bore-based medical system; the ring gantry is configured to rotate at least partially about a through bore having a forward side and an aft side; the through bore is configured to receive a movable platform configured to move in and out of the through bore from the front side; Further, the through bore includes an inner surface facing an interior of the through bore, the ring-shaped camera carrier being configured to be mounted inside the through bore in association with the inner surface of the through bore; the ring-shaped camera carrier includes at least two treatment monitoring cameras mounted in association with the inner surface of the through bore and configured together to cover a field of view including an isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system, the two treatment monitoring cameras being configured to record images of a patient lying on the movable couch during radiation therapy to enable monitoring and / or tracking of any movements made by the patient; the ring-shaped camera carrier includes a first arch, the first arch being connected via a substantially flexible joint to a first end of a left arch at a first end of the first arch and to a first end of a right arch at a second end of the first arch, the left arch and the right arch being connected to each other at a second end opposite the first end through an adjustable expansion element such that a circular shape of the ring-shaped camera carrier corresponding to the inner surface of the through bore is formed; Bore-based medical system.

2. 2. The bore-based medical system of claim 1, wherein the bore-based medical system includes an interior space between the inner surface and an exterior-facing side of the bore-based medical system, the rotatable gantry is configured to rotate within the interior space, the two treatment monitoring cameras are configured to be mounted within the interior space, and the inner surface includes a transparent area for each of the two treatment monitoring cameras at a wavelength visible to the camera, enabling the treatment monitoring cameras to record the images of the patient positioned within a field of view of the treatment monitoring camera that covers at least the isocenter focus of the bore-based medical system.

3. The bore-based medical system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the two treatment monitoring cameras are mounted on a carrier body, the treatment monitoring cameras being mounted on the carrier body at an equal distance from a line of symmetry of the carrier body.

4. 4. The bore-based medical system of claim 3, wherein the carrier body includes a camera viewing surface facing an isocenter focal point of the bore-based medical system, the camera viewing surface being a surface on which reflected light from a target is incident on the at least two treatment monitoring cameras, and the two treatment monitoring cameras are configured such that internal camera mirrors of the two treatment monitoring cameras are angled with respect to the camera viewing surface.

5. 5. The bore-based medical system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the two treatment monitoring cameras includes a projector configured to project light onto a target configured to be positioned within a field of view of the one or more cameras.

6. 6. The bore-based medical system of claim 1, wherein each of the two treatment monitoring cameras includes at least two internal mirrors, a first mirror disposed on a first end face of each camera and a second mirror disposed on a second end face of each camera, the first mirror including a first mirror center and the second mirror including a second mirror center, a mirror center axis being defined between the first mirror center and the second mirror center, and the mirrors configured to reflect incident light onto an image sensor of the camera.

7. The bore-based medical system of claim 6 when dependent on claim 4, wherein the first and second mirrors are arranged to form a mirror angle between a mirror plane and the camera viewing surface, the mirror angle being configured to be greater than or equal to 45 degrees.

8. The two treatment monitoring cameras are: at least a first image sensor configured to be placed on a substrate of said treatment monitoring camera at a distance from a first mirror centre; a second image sensor configured to be positioned on the opposite side of said substrate at a distance from the second mirror centre; the mirror plane of each of the first and second mirrors is configured with the mirror angle α1=α2, said first and second image sensors comprising a first sensor axis and a second sensor axis perpendicular to said first sensor axis; at least one of the first sensor axis or the second sensor axis is arranged normal to the mirror plane of the camera viewing surface and parallel to a first mirror axis of the mirror plane; The bore-based medical system of claim 7.

9. 2. The bore-based medical system of claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped camera carrier further comprises two set-up cameras having forward viewing surfaces that face in substantially opposite directions to the two treatment monitoring cameras and face a forward viewing area of ​​the bore-based medical system, the two set-up cameras being configured with a field of view that covers at least a portion of the movable bed when the movable bed is positioned outside the through bore.

10. 10. The bore-based medical system of claim 9, wherein the two set-up cameras are configured to be mounted to the bore-based medical system substantially back-to-back with each of the two treatment monitoring cameras to form a first back-to-back camera configuration and a second back-to-back camera configuration.

11. 11. The bore-based medical system of claim 10, wherein the ring-shaped camera carrier includes a bed monitoring camera that is mounted to the bore-based medical system so as to be centered substantially midway between the first back-to-back camera configuration and the second back-to-back camera configuration, and the bed monitoring camera is configured with a lens orientation that has a field of view that covers at least a portion of a bed of the bore-based medical system when the bed monitoring camera is mounted.

12. The ring-shaped camera carrier is configured as a ring-shaped body, and the first arch includes: - it has a front body part and a rear body part, said front body part and said rear body part being connected to form the width of said ring-shaped body, the treatment monitoring camera is configured to be mounted on the ring-shaped body equidistant from a line of symmetry of the ring-shaped body; The bore-based medical system of claim 1 .

13. The bore-based medical system of claim 12 , wherein the first arch is mounted within an interior space between the interior surface and an exterior facing side of the bore-based medical system.

14. The bore-based medical system of claim 1, wherein the expansion element is configured to be adjusted to a first expansion stage that moves the left arch and the right arch away from each other and a second expansion stage that relaxes the first expansion stage.

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