Method and apparatus for determining transducer position to create a tumor treatment field - Patents.com

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for determining transducer placement on a subject's body, the method including the steps of: selecting a plurality of intersecting line segment pairs on an image of the subject's body, each of the line segment pairs intersecting within a region of the image corresponding to a tumor in the subject's body, each line segment pair corresponding to a location for placing a transducer on the subject's body; determining a pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, each pair value based on a length of each line segment of a corresponding intersecting line segment pair; selecting one or more intersecting line segment pairs based on the pair values ​​to obtain one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs; and outputting locations for placing a transducer on the subject's body corresponding to the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 517,407, filed November 2, 2021, and U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 110,674, filed November 6, 2020.

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining transducer position to create a tumor treatment field. [Background technology]

[0003] Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), as described in U.S. Patent No. 7,565,205, are low-intensity alternating electric fields in the mid-frequency range that can be used to treat tumors. TTFields are noninvasively induced in a region of interest by placing transducers on the patient's body and applying an AC voltage between the transducers. Conventionally, a first pair of transducers and a second pair of transducers are placed on the subject's body. An AC voltage is applied between the first pair of transducers for a first time interval to generate an electric field with field lines running generally in the anterior-posterior direction. Then, an AC voltage at the same frequency is applied between the second pair of transducers for a second time interval to generate an electric field with field lines running generally in the lateral direction. The system then repeats this two-step sequence throughout the treatment. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent No. 7,565,205 Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method for determining transducer placement on a subject's body. The computer includes one or more processors and a memory accessible by the one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer to perform the method. The method includes the steps of selecting a plurality of intersecting line segment pairs on an image of the subject's body, each of the line segment pairs intersecting within a region of the image corresponding to a tumor in the subject's body, each line segment pair corresponding to a location for placing a transducer on the subject's body; determining a pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, each pair value based on the length of each line segment of the corresponding intersecting line segment pair; selecting one or more intersecting line segment pairs based on the pair value to obtain one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs; and outputting a location for placing a transducer on the subject's body corresponding to the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs.

[0006] The above aspects of the invention are illustrative and other aspects and variations of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments that follow. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example of determining placement of transducers on a subject's body. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a subject's body with a pair of intersecting line segments passing through a tumor. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a subject's body with a pair of intersecting line segments passing through a tumor. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image of a subject's head with intersecting line segment pairs passing through different tissue types and tumors. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary MRI image of a subject's torso with intersecting line segment pairs passing through different tissue types and tumors. [Figure 6A] 10 is an exemplary graph comparing calculations of LMiPD with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 6B] 10 is an exemplary graph comparing calculations of LMiPD with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a transducer. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a transducer. [Figure 7C] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a transducer. [Figure 7D] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a transducer. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a pair of transducers. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an apparatus for determining the placement of transducers on a subject's body. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] To provide effective TTFields therapy to a subject, precise locations for transducer placement on the subject's body must be generated, and these precise locations are based on the type of cancer and the location of the cancer within the subject's body. However, determining these precise locations is very difficult and requires lengthy and resource-intensive computer simulations of many possible transducer placement locations.

[0009] One difficulty in these computer simulations is considering the conductivity of different types of tissue (e.g., bone, organs, fluid, skin, and tumors) in the computer simulation. A further difficulty is modeling higher resolution images for the computer simulation, resulting in more complex computer models of the subject's body. As a result, detailed computer simulations of the subject's body for a large number of possible transducer positions are very costly in terms of computational resources and time.

[0010] The inventors have recognized these problems and have discovered techniques for determining precise locations for placing transducers on a subject's body without expensive simulations. In particular, locations for placing transducers on a subject's body can be determined based on the relationship between the transducers used to induce TTFields. The relationship between the transducers can be based, for example, on the distance between the transducers, the pixels between the transducers in an image of the subject's body, and / or the tissue between the transducers in an image of the subject's body.

[0011] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of determining the placement of transducers on a subject's body. In one embodiment, each transducer may be an array of electrode elements, and thus each line segment may represent the distance between the center points of a pair of transducer arrays.

[0012] In step 110, method 100 may select multiple intersecting line segment pairs on an image of the subject's body. In one embodiment, each intersecting line segment pair may have a first line segment and a second line segment. The image of the subject's body may include a tumor-related region within the subject's body. The image of the subject's body may be, for example, an X-ray image, a computed tomography (CT) image, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image, or an ultrasound image of the subject's body, or any image of the subject's body that provides an internal view of the subject's body. The image may be a so-called slice through the subject's body acquired by a scanning device.

[0013] Each line segment in each intersecting line segment pair may identify a location on the subject's body for placing a pair of transducers. Each pair of transducers may correspond to a channel for generating TTFields within the subject's body. A particular line segment may be used in only one or more intersecting line segment pairs. Each intersecting line segment pair intersects in a region of the subject's body corresponding to a tumor.

[0014] Each line segment may represent the distance between two transducers and may be defined, for example, by a point on the first transducer and a point on the second transducer, an intersection with the first transducer and an intersection with the second transducer, a pixel of the image, and / or a voxel of the image.

[0015] Each line segment of a pair of intersecting line segments may intersect at an angle within a region of the image corresponding to a tumor in the subject's body. For example, the line segment pair may intersect within the tumor in the image, at the center of gravity of the tumor in the image, or at a point adjacent to the tumor in the image. The line segments of each intersecting line segment pair may be substantially perpendicular, may intersect at an angle based on the physical geometry of the subject's body, or may intersect at an angle based on the type of transducer to be used on the subject's body. In some cases, an intersecting angle within 90°±15° may be required.

[0016] At step 120, method 100 may determine a pair value for each of the intersecting exemplary line segment pairs. In one embodiment, the pair value may be based on the lengths of each line segment in the corresponding intersecting line segment pair. In one example, the pair value of an intersecting exemplary line segment pair may be calculated as, for example, the absolute value of the difference between the lengths of the line segments in the intersecting line segment pair. In another example, the pair value of an intersecting exemplary line segment pair may be calculated as the sum of the lengths of the line segments in the intersecting line segment pair.

[0017] In one embodiment, the length of each typical line segment may be calculated based on the distance between the endpoints of the typical line segment in the image (e.g., mm), the geometric distance between each typical line segment (e.g., mm), or the relative unit of the image. In one example, the pair value T of the intersecting typical line segment pair is calculated using the following formula: T=|d1-d2| Formula 1 where d1 and d2 are the distances between the first and second line segments of a typical intersecting line segment pair.

[0018] In another example, the pair value T of each intersecting representative line segment pair is calculated using the following formula: T=d1+d2 Equation 2 where d1 and d2 are the distances between the first and second line segments of a typical intersecting line segment pair.

[0019] In another embodiment, the length of each exemplary line segment may be calculated based on the number of pixels or voxels of the image between the endpoints of the exemplary line segment. In a more specific example, the method may identify pixels of the image intersected by each line segment of each intersecting line segment pair. In another example, the method further includes assigning pixel tissue values ​​to pixels of the image based on tissue types of the subject's body, and determining pair values ​​based on the pixel tissue values ​​of pixels intersecting each line segment of the intersecting line segment pair.

[0020] In one example, the pair value T of each intersecting representative line segment pair is calculated using the following formula:

number

[0021] In another example, the pair value T of each intersecting representative line segment pair is calculated using the following formula:

number

[0022] In another embodiment, each pair value may be based on a weighted distance between a first endpoint and a second endpoint of each line segment of a corresponding pair of intersecting line segments. In one example, the weighted distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint of each line segment is based on one or more tissue types within the portion of the subject's body through which the corresponding line segment passes. In a more specific example, the method further includes assigning pixel tissue weights to pixels of the image of the subject's body based on tissue types of the subject's body. In one example, the tissue types of the subject's body include gray matter, white matter, and bone. In another example, the tissue types of the subject's body include organ tissue, muscle tissue, and bone. The weights may be based, for example, on the conductivity or resistivity of the tissue types.

[0023] In one example, the pair value T of each intersecting representative line segment pair is calculated using the following formula:

number

[0024] In another example, the pair value T of each intersecting representative line segment pair is calculated using the following formula:

number

[0025] In step 130, method 100 may select one or more intersecting typical line segment pairs based on the pair values ​​determined in step 120. For example, if an absolute value calculation is used to determine the pair values, the pair values ​​may be sorted, the smaller or smallest pair value may be determined, and the intersecting typical line segment pair corresponding to the smaller or smallest pair value may be selected. As another example, if a sum calculation is used to determine the pair values, the pair values ​​may be sorted, the smaller or smallest pair value may be determined, and the intersecting typical line segment pair corresponding to the smaller or smallest pair value may be selected.

[0026] As another example, typical intersecting line segment pairs may be selected based on comparing a threshold value to the pair values ​​of the intersecting line segment pairs. For example, if an absolute value calculation is used to determine the pair values, typical intersecting line segment pairs corresponding to pair values ​​equal to or less than the threshold value may be selected. As another example, if a sum calculation is used to determine the pair values, typical intersecting line segment pairs corresponding to pair values ​​equal to or less than the threshold value may be selected.

[0027] In one embodiment, at least one of the one or more selected exemplary intersecting line segment pairs may have a local minimum power density (LMiPD) at the line segment intersection that is higher than the LMiPD at the line segment intersection of a non-selected intersecting line segment pair. The LMiPD may represent the minimum dose delivered to a tumor by TTFields via a particular transducer layout, and an ideal transducer layout may be obtained when this minimum dose is maximized compared to other potential layouts.

[0028] In another embodiment, the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs are selected without simulating TTFields for a transducer location on the subject's body.

[0029] At step 140, method 100 may output locations for placing transducers on the subject's body that correspond to one or more selected intersecting representative line segment pairs. The output may be transmitted to a user device. In one embodiment, the locations for placing transducers on the subject's body are output without simulating TTFields for the locations.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary portion of a subject's body in which an intersecting line segment pair passes through a tumor. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, an image 200 of the subject's body includes a tumor 205 and first and second line segments 250a and 250b that intersect within the tumor 205. The first line segment 250a corresponds to the positions of the first and second transducers 210 and 220. In one example, the endpoints of the first line segment 250a may correspond to the positions of the centers of the transducers 210 and 220. The second line segment 250b corresponds to the positions of the third and fourth transducers 230 and 240. In one example, the endpoints of the second line segment 250b may correspond to the positions of the centers of the transducers 230 and 240. The first and second line segments 250a and 250b form an intersecting line pair 250. The first line segment 250a and the second line segment 250b intersect at substantially 90°.

[0031] Line segment 250a may have a length between first transducer 210 and second transducer 220 represented by distance (or length) d1, and line segment 250b may have a length between third transducer 230 and fourth transducer 240 represented by distance (or length) d2. In one embodiment, the pair values ​​of intersecting line pair 250 may be calculated based on Equations 1-4 discussed above.

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary portion of a subject's body where intersecting line segment pairs pass through a tumor. In the example shown in FIG. 3, image 200 of the subject's body includes three intersecting line segment pairs representing the positions of three pairs of transducers. For clarity, the three pairs of transducers are not shown in FIG. 3. In particular, image 200 of the subject's body includes a first intersecting line segment pair 250 of line segments 250a and 250b, a second intersecting line segment pair 320 of line segments 320a and 320b, and a third intersecting line segment pair 330 of line segments 330a and 330b. Each of the intersecting line segment pairs intersects within tumor 205.

[0033] Potential transducer locations on the subject's body may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle. As an example, the first line segment of each intersecting exemplary line segment pair may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle, and the second line segment of each intersecting line segment pair may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle. The predetermined angle may be, for example, 0.5°, 1°, 5°, 10°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°, or any other angle. As another example, the line segments of each intersecting line segment pair may be spaced apart by different angles. In the example shown in FIG. 3 , the first line segment 250 a of the first intersecting line segment pair 250 may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle from the first line segment 320 a of the second intersecting line segment pair 320, and the first line segment 320 a of the second intersecting line segment pair 320 may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle from the first line segment 330 a of the third intersecting line segment pair 330. Similarly, the second line segment 250b of the first intersecting line segment pair 250 may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle from the second line segment 320b of the second intersecting line segment pair 320, and the second line segment 320b of the second intersecting line segment pair 320 may be spaced apart by a predetermined angle from the second line segment 330b of the third intersecting line segment pair 330.

[0034] 4 illustrates an exemplary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image of a subject's head in which intersecting line segment pairs pass through different tissue types and a tumor. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, MRI image 400 of the subject's head includes tumor 405, and exemplary intersecting line segment pair 450 passes through different tissue types and intersects tumor 405. Exemplary intersecting line segment pair 450 includes first line segment 450a and second line segment 450b. First line segment 450a is defined by the positions of transducers 410 and 420, and second line segment 450b is defined by the positions of transducers 430 and 440. Tissue types in the subject's body may include gray matter 401, white matter 402, bone 403, cerebral fluid, and skin. In FIG. 4, first line segment 450a and second line segment 450b pass through multiple tissue types (e.g., skin, bone, brain fluid, white matter, and / or gray matter). The distance d1 of line segment 450a may include multiple pixels passing through the skin, bone, brain fluid, white matter, and gray matter, with each pixel weighted accordingly. In that case, d1 may be the sum of each weighted pixel along line segment 450a. Similarly, the distance d2 of line segment 450b may be the sum of each weighted pixel along line segment 450b. The pair values ​​of the exemplary intersecting line segment pair 450 may be calculated based on Equations 5-6 discussed above.

[0035] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary MRI image of a subject's torso in which intersecting line segment pairs pass through different tissue types and a tumor. In the example shown in FIG. 5, MRI image 500 of the subject's torso includes tumor 505 and exemplary intersecting line segment pairs 550 that pass through different tissue types and intersect tumor 505. The tissue types in the subject's body may include organ tissue 501, muscle tissue 502, bone 503, skin, and fluid. Exemplary intersecting line segment pair 550 includes first line segment 550a and second line segment 550b. First line segment 550a is defined by the positions of transducers 510 and 520, and second line segment 550b is defined by the positions of transducers 530 and 540.

[0036] 6A and 6B show exemplary graphs comparing local minimum power density (LMiPD) calculations with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0037] In Figures 6A and 6B, the x-axis corresponds to the angle of the channel (CH0) relative to a pair of transducers on the subject's head, where 0° refers to the anterior-posterior axis of the subject's head and the angle is relative to this axis, and the left y-axis corresponds to the angle in units of power dissipation (mW / cm 3 ), and the right y-axis corresponds to the normalized weighted distance between the transducer pair. In one example, weights w having relative values ​​between -3 and 3 may be assigned to pixels based on their respective tissue type. The graph includes the power loss of channel (CH0) for a pair of transducers placed anterior-posterior on the subject's head and then shifted by an angle on the x-axis. The angle for the data points of channel (CH0) is between 0° and 170° in 5° increments.

[0038] In the example shown in Figure 6A, graph 601A corresponds to power loss in a target region (e.g., a tumor) calculated based on weighted distances between pairs of transducers on a subject's body. Graph 602A corresponds to power loss in a tumor in a subject's head calculated based on complex simulations to calculate LMiPD. As shown in Figure 6A, the transducer layout identified by calculating weighted distances using an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is corroborated by complex simulations to calculate LMiPD.

[0039] In the example shown in Figure 6B, graph 601B corresponds to power loss in a target region (e.g., a tumor) calculated based on weighted distances between pairs of transducers on a subject's body. Graph 602B corresponds to power loss in a tumor in a subject's head calculated based on complex simulations to calculate LMiPD. As shown in Figure 6B, the transducer layout identified by calculating weighted distances using an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is corroborated by complex simulations to calculate LMiPD.

[0040] 7A-7D show examples of various transducer configurations. In one embodiment, the transducer comprises an array of substantially planar electrode elements.

[0041] 7A, the transducer 700A may include a substrate 701A and a plurality of electrode elements 702A. The substrate 700A may be configured to attach the transducer 700A to the body of a subject. Suitable materials for the substrate 701A may include, for example, fabric, foam, and flexible plastic. In one example, the substrate 701A may include a conductive medical gel. In a more specific example, the substrate 701A may be a layer of hydrogel.

[0042] A plurality of capacitively coupled electrode elements 702A may be disposed on the substrate 701A, each of which may have a conductive plate with a dielectric layer disposed thereon facing the substrate. Optionally, one or more sensors may be disposed beneath each of the electrode elements in a manner similar to the conventional arrangement used in the Novocure Optune® system. In one example, the one or more sensors may be temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors).

[0043] 7B shows another example of the structure of a transducer 700B. In this example, the transducer 700B may include multiple electrode elements 702B. The multiple electrode elements 702B may be electrically and mechanically connected to each other without a substrate. In one example, the electrode elements 702B may be connected to each other via conductive wires 701B.

[0044] Figures 7C and 7D show further example structures of transducers 700C and 700D. For example, Figure 7C shows an example of transducer 700C having an array of 13 electrode elements 702C disposed on a substrate 701C. Furthermore, Figure 7D shows an example of transducer 700D having an array of 20 electrode elements 702D disposed on a substrate 701D.

[0045] In one example, the electrode elements 702A, 702B, 702C, and 702D can be ceramic discs, each approximately 2 cm in diameter and approximately 1 mm thick. In another example, the electrode elements 702A, 702B, 702C, and 702D can be non-disk-shaped ceramic elements. In yet another example, the electrode elements 702A, 702B, 702C, and 702D can be non-ceramic dielectric materials disposed on multiple flat conductors. Examples of non-ceramic dielectric materials disposed on flat conductors can include polymer films disposed on pads on a printed circuit board or on flat metal strips. In certain embodiments, transducers using arrays of non-capacitively coupled electrode elements can also be used. In this situation, each electrode element 702A, 702B, 702C, and 702D can be implemented using an area of ​​conductive material configured for placement against the subject's body, without an insulating dielectric layer disposed between the conductive element and the body. In other embodiments, the transducer can include only a single electrode element. As one example, a single electrode element may include a flexible organic material or a flexible organic composite material disposed on a substrate. As another example, a transducer may include a flexible organic material or a flexible organic composite material without a substrate.

[0046] Other alternative structures for implementing transducers for use in embodiments of the present invention may also be used, so long as they (a) are capable of delivering TTFields to the body of a subject and (b) are capable of being positioned at the locations specified herein.

[0047] 8 shows an example of a pair of transducer configurations. In this example, a first transducer 801 may include 13 electrode elements 803 disposed on a substrate 804, which may be electrically and mechanically connected to one another via conductive wiring 809. Similarly, a second transducer 802 may include 20 electrode elements 805 disposed on a substrate 806, which may be similarly electrically and mechanically connected to one another via conductive wiring 810. Furthermore, the first transducer 801 and the second transducer 802 may be connected to an AC voltage generator 807 and a controller 808. The controller 808 may include one or more processors and memory accessible by the one or more processors. The memory may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, control the AC voltage generator 807 to realize a first electric field between a first pair of transducers 801, 802, then realize a second electric field between a second pair of transducers (not shown), and then alternate between realizing the first and second electric fields. As shown in Figure 8, the transducers 801, 802 are different. The transducers 801, 802 may be the same or different, for example, with respect to the number of elements and / or the position of the elements.

[0048] 9 shows an example of an apparatus for determining the position of a transducer on a subject's body using the exemplary embodiments discussed herein. In this example, the apparatus 900 may include one or more processors 902, one or more output devices 905, and a memory 903.

[0049] In one embodiment, the one or more processors 902 may include a general-purpose processor, an integrated circuit, a server, other programmable logic devices, or any combination thereof. The processor may be a conventional processor, a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, or a state machine. The one or more processors may be one, two, or more processors of the same type or different types. Furthermore, the one or more processors may be computers, computing devices, user devices, and the like.

[0050] In one example, based on user input 901, the one or more processors may determine where to place the transducer on the subject's body based on the relationship between the channels used to induce TTFields and may make one or more recommendations to the user. The one or more recommendations may be output at one or more output devices 905. In another example, the user may provide feedback regarding the one or more recommendations via the output device 905. After receiving feedback from the user, the one or more processors 902 may generate one or more different recommendations regarding transducer location.

[0051] The memory 903 may be accessible by one or more processors 902 via link 904 such that the one or more processors 902 can write information to and read information from the memory 903. The memory 903 may be integral to or separate from the processor(s). Examples of memory 903 include RAM, flash, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, disk storage, or any other form of storage medium. The memory 903 may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 902, implement one or more embodiments of the present invention. The memory 903 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more of the example methods discussed herein.

[0052] The present invention includes other exemplary embodiments as follows.

[0053] Exemplary Embodiment 1. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a subject's body, wherein an image of the subject's body includes a plurality of tissue types of the subject's body, and the tissue types of the subject's body include gray matter, white matter, and bone.

[0054] Exemplary embodiment 2. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a subject's body, wherein an image of the subject's body includes a plurality of tissue types of the subject's body, and the tissue types of the patient's body include organ tissue, muscle tissue, and bone.

[0055] Exemplary Embodiment 3. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a subject's body, wherein at least one line segment of a pair of intersecting line segments is substantially perpendicular.

[0056] Exemplary Embodiment 4. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a subject's body, wherein the transducer comprises an array of substantially planar electrode elements.

[0057] Exemplary Embodiment 5. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a subject's body, wherein locations for placing the transducer on the subject's body are output without simulating TTFields for the locations.

[0058] Numerous modifications, variations, and variations to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. It is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but rather have its full scope as defined by the language of the following claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 200 images 205 Tumors 210 first transducer 220 Second Transducer 230 Third Transducer 240 Fourth Transducer 250 Intersecting Line Pairs, First Intersecting Line Pair 250a First line segment, line segment 250b Second line segment, line segment 320 Second intersecting line pair 320a Line Segment 320b line segment 330 Third intersecting line pair 330a Line segment 320b line segment 400 MRI images 401 Gray matter 402 White matter 403 Bones 405 Tumor 410 Transducer 420 Transducer 430 Transducer 440 transducer 450 Typical Intersecting Line Pairs 450a First line segment 450b Second line segment 500 MRI images 501 Organ Tissue 502 Muscle Tissue 503 Bones 505 Tumor 510 Transducer 520 Transducer 530 Transducer 540 Transducer 550 Typical Intersecting Line Pairs 550a First line segment 550b Second line segment 601A graph 602B graph 700A transducer 700B Transducer 700C Transducer 700D Transducer 701A board 701B Conductive Wire 701C board 701D board 702A electrode element, capacitively coupled electrode element 702B Electrode Element 702C electrode element 702D Electrode Element 801 first transducer, transducer 802 second transducer, transducer 803 Electrode Elements 804 board 805 Electrode Elements 806 board 807 AC Voltage Generator 808 Controller 809 Conductive wiring 810 Conductive wiring 900 equipment 902 processor 903 Memory 904 Links 905 Output Devices

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for determining placement of a transducer on a body of a subject, the computer comprising one or more processors and memory accessible by the one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: selecting a plurality of intersecting line segment pairs on an image of the subject's body, each of the line segment pairs intersecting in an area of ​​the image corresponding to a tumor in the subject's body, and each of the line segment pairs corresponding to a location on the subject's body for placing the transducer; determining a pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, each pair value based on the length of each line segment of a corresponding intersecting line segment pair, and determining the pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs includes calculating an absolute value of the difference between the lengths of the line segments of the corresponding intersecting line segment pair; selecting one or more intersecting line segment pairs based on the pair values ​​to obtain one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs; outputting the locations for placing the transducer on the subject's body corresponding to the one or more selected pairs of intersecting line segments; A computer-implemented method, including:

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs comprises calculating a sum of lengths of the line segments of the corresponding intersecting line segment pair.

3. the image of the subject's body includes a plurality of tissue types of the subject's body; determining the pair values ​​for each of the intersecting line segment pairs is further based on one or more of the tissue types through which each line segment of the corresponding intersecting line segment pair passes; 3. A computer-implemented method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising assigning pixel tissue weights to pixels of the image of the subject's body based on tissue types of the subject's body.

5. determining the pair values ​​for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, identifying pixels of the image intersected by each line segment of each of the intersecting line segment pairs; determining the pair values ​​based on the pixels intersecting each line segment of the intersecting line segment pair; 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

6. assigning pixel tissue values ​​to pixels of the image based on tissue type of the subject's body; determining the pair values ​​for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, determining the pair value based on the pixel texture values ​​of the pixels intersecting each line segment of the intersecting line segment pair; 6. A computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the line segments of the intersecting line segment pair intersect at a point within the tumor in the image, at a centroid of the tumor in the image, or at a point adjacent to the tumor in the image.

8. the first line segment of the first pair of intersecting line segments is spaced apart from the first line segment of the second pair of intersecting line segments by a predetermined angle; a first line segment of the second pair of intersecting line segments is spaced apart from a first line segment of a third pair of intersecting line segments by the predetermined angle; 8. A computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs has a local minimum power density (LMiPD) at an intersection of the line segments that is higher than an LMiPD at the intersection of the line segments of a non-selected intersecting line segment pair.

10. 10. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs are selected without simulating TTFields for a transducer location on the subject's body.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for identifying locations for placing transducers on a subject's body, the instructions, when executed by a computer, comprising: selecting a plurality of intersecting line segment pairs on an image of the subject's body, each of the line segment pairs intersecting in an area of ​​the image corresponding to a tumor in the subject's body, and each of the line segment pairs corresponding to a location on the subject's body for placing the transducer; determining a pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, each pair value based on a number of pixels in the image of the subject's body through which the line segment pair passes, and determining the pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs includes calculating an absolute value of the difference between the number of pixels of the corresponding intersecting line segment pairs; selecting one or more intersecting line segment pairs based on the pair values ​​to obtain one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs; outputting the locations for placing the transducer on the subject's body corresponding to the one or more selected pairs of intersecting line segments; causing the computer to execute a method comprising: Non-transitory computer-readable medium.

12. assigning pixel tissue values ​​to pixels of the image based on tissue type of the subject's body; determining the pair values ​​for each of the intersecting line segment pairs is further based on the pixel tissue values ​​of pixels in the image of the subject's body through which the line segment pair passes; 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11.

13. 1. A system for identifying a location for placing a transducer on a body of a subject, the system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory accessible by the one or more processors, the memory, when executed by the one or more processors, performing: accessing an image of a slice of the subject's body, the image including a tumor-related region of the subject's body, and a tissue type of the subject's body being identified within the image; selecting a plurality of intersecting line segment pairs on the image of the slice of the subject's body, each of the line segment pairs intersecting at a location on the image corresponding to the tumor on the subject's body, and each line segment of the plurality of line segment pairs having a first endpoint and a second endpoint on a surface of the subject's body; determining a pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs, each pair value based on a weighted distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint of each line segment of a corresponding intersecting line segment pair, wherein determining the pair value for each of the intersecting line segment pairs includes calculating an absolute value of a difference between the weighted distances of the corresponding intersecting line segment pairs; selecting one or more intersecting line segment pairs based on the pair values ​​to obtain one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs; outputting the pair values ​​for the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs, the one or more selected intersecting line segment pairs corresponding to positions on the subject's body for placing the transducer; storing instructions for causing the system to perform a method including: system.

14. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the weighted distance between the first and second endpoints of each line segment is based on one or more tissue types within a portion of the subject's body through which the corresponding line segment passes.

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