Radiation Therapy Machine Path Planning for Collision-Free Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual process of positioning radiation therapy machine elements to their starting positions is time-consuming, prone to human error, and requires extensive training, with potential for collisions that can cause damage and treatment delays.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for automatically determining collision-free paths for radiation therapy machine elements, allowing simultaneous and efficient movement to their starting positions, using a path planning model that evaluates candidate paths for safety and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple organs are treated in a single radiation therapy session, then treatment efficiency is improved, but the risk of missing critical path structures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the radiation therapy treatment into multiple independent path planning processes, one for each organ. Each organ's treatment path is planned separately through individual user interactions, allowing the system to maintain high treatment efficiency while ensuring accurate identification of critical path structures for each organ without interference from other organs' treatment data.
2Manufacturing precision
If path structures are manually identified for each organ, then treatment accuracy is improved, but treatment time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic path structure identification that adapts to each organ's specific characteristics and treatment requirements. The interface dynamically adjusts based on the selected organ, presenting only relevant path structures for identification. This dynamic adaptation maintains high accuracy while reducing unnecessary time spent on irrelevant structures, optimizing the balance between precision and efficiency.
3Quantity of substance
If all path structures are displayed for every organ, then completeness of information is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by customizing the information display according to each specific organ's characteristics. When a user selects a particular organ, the system displays only the path structures relevant to that organ, with appropriate anatomical context and labeling. This localized information presentation ensures completeness for each organ while avoiding the overwhelming complexity that would result from displaying all possible path structures for all organs simultaneously.
Data Source
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AI summary
Respective target positions, into which elements of a radiation therapy machine are to be moved (e.g., prior to beginning treatment of a patient), are determined (402). A candidate path, which describes movements of the elements from respective initial positions to the respective target positions, is defined and accessed (404). The candidate path is evaluated (406) to determine whether it would result in a collision between any of the elements. The candidate path is included (408) in a set of candidate paths when the candidate path does not result in a collision between any of the elements. A value of a measure (e.g., a measure of efficiency), used for ranking each candidate path in the set of candidate paths, is determined (410). A path is selected from the set of candidate paths based on the ranking (412).