Automated Radiation Therapy Planning Algorithm
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current external beam radiation therapy treatment planning is complex, time-consuming, and varies in quality between institutions due to its dependence on human expertise, leading to sub-optimal treatment plans and potential complications such as fatal radiation damage.
Innovation Solution
The development of a method and system that automatically sets beam angles and adjusts objective function parameters using an expert system-based algorithm to optimize treatment plans, ensuring consistent and high-quality radiation delivery while minimizing dose to surrounding tissues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual treatment planning is used by dosimetrists, then treatment plans can be customized based on expert judgment, but the process becomes time-consuming and quality varies between institutions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically selecting beam angles and setting objective function parameters based on tumor position and patient anatomy before the optimization process begins. This pre-configuration eliminates the time-consuming manual setup phase while ensuring consistent, expert-guided parameters are used across all cases, thereby improving both speed and quality consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The treatment planning system performs self-service by autonomously selecting beam angles, configuring objective function parameters, and optimizing treatment plans without requiring manual intervention from dosimetrists for these specific tasks. The system uses automated algorithms to analyze patient data and generate optimized plans, significantly reducing planning time while maintaining consistent quality standards across different institutions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If beam angles are selected based on trial and error, then flexibility in exploring different configurations is achieved, but the process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically changes key parameters including beam angles and objective function weights based on tumor position, size, and surrounding anatomy. This automated parameter selection provides adaptability to different patient cases while eliminating the trial-and-error complexity by using algorithm-driven decisions instead of manual iterative adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an automated algorithm as an intermediary between the patient's anatomical data and the treatment plan configuration. This intermediary automatically translates anatomical features into optimal beam angle selections and parameter settings, providing flexibility adapted to each case while removing the complexity of manual trial-and-error exploration.
3Reliability
If objective function parameters are set manually, then clinical judgment can be applied, but the optimization process becomes difficult to steer toward the best result
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the automated optimization process continuously evaluates objective function values and adjusts parameters accordingly. The system provides feedback on plan quality metrics and automatically steers the optimization toward better results by adjusting beam intensities and angles based on how well current plans meet the objective functions, making the process easier to control while maintaining high accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The optimization process performs self-service by automatically adjusting objective function parameters and beam configurations based on real-time evaluation of plan quality. The system monitors optimization progress and autonomously makes adjustments to steer toward the best results without requiring manual intervention, thereby improving both accuracy and ease of operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
This patent generally relates to developing treatment plans for use in external beam radiation therapy, and more particularly to a method, a system and a computer readable media that contains programming for the development of external beam radiation therapy treatment plans. Embodiments of the invention include (1) automatically setting beam angles based on a beam angle automation algorithm, (2) judiciously designing planning structures and (3) automatically adjusting the objectives of the objective function based on a parameter automation algorithm.