Radiation Treatment Planning Using Beam Angle Pre-Screening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current radiation therapy planning methods face challenges in efficiently determining optimal beam angles that place the Bragg peak of proton beams outside the patient's body, leading to inefficiencies and increased exposure of healthy tissue to radiation.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that identifies beam delivery angles where the Bragg peak is partially or entirely outside the patient's body by determining radiological thickness, allowing for efficient elimination of unsuitable angles and optimizing treatment plans using a graphical user interface to visualize and adjust beam fields.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional radiation therapy planning methods are used to determine beam angles, then treatment planning can be performed, but the Bragg peak may be placed inside the patient's body leading to increased exposure of healthy tissue to radiation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by calculating and determining radiological thickness values for different beam angles before actual treatment planning. This pre-calculation allows the system to identify and eliminate unsuitable beam angles that would place the Bragg peak inside the patient's body, thereby preventing unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissue while improving planning efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the beam angle selection process by evaluating multiple discrete beam angles and categorizing them based on whether they produce transmission fields (Bragg peak outside body) or non-transmission fields. This segmentation allows systematic identification and selection of optimal beam angles that spare healthy tissue.
2Manufacturing precision
If beam angles are evaluated through iterative trial and error, then optimal treatment plans can be found, but the process becomes time-consuming and computationally intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary calculation of radiological thickness for various beam angles before dose calculation. This pre-evaluation identifies suitable transmission field angles in advance, eliminating the need for iterative trial-and-error testing during treatment planning, thus reducing planning time while maintaining plan optimality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes unsuitable beam angles from consideration by identifying those that do not produce transmission fields. This extraction process eliminates poor options early in the planning process, preventing wasted computational effort and time on suboptimal beam angle configurations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dose calculations are performed for all possible beam angles, then comprehensive treatment options are evaluated, but computational complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary evaluation of beam angles using radiological thickness calculations before conducting full dose calculations. This pre-screening step identifies transmission field angles that are likely to be optimal, allowing dose calculations to be performed only on a reduced set of promising candidates, thus reducing computational complexity while maintaining comprehensiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by focusing computational resources on specific beam angles that have been pre-identified as producing transmission fields. Instead of uniformly evaluating all possible beam angles, the system concentrates computational effort on locally optimal angles where the Bragg peak is positioned outside the patient's body.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the generation of superior radiation treatment plans that effectively spare healthy tissue by optimizing the balance between tumor dose and healthy tissue exposure, reducing computational complexity and improving treatment planning efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
A proton beam reaches a depth in tissue that depends on the energy of the beam, and releases most of its energy (delivers most of its dose) at that depth. The region of a depth-dose curve where most of the energy is released is referred to as the Bragg peak of the beam.
Data Source
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AI summary
Computer-implemented methods for planning radiation treatment are used to identify, for a given isocenter 402 and given beam energy 403, beam delivery angles 406 where beam fields satisfy a criterion for transmission fields (fields with a Bragg peak that is significantly or entirely outside of a patient's body). Those beam angles can be determined and evaluated 408-412 before dose calculations are performed 414. Treatment planning can be performed using selected, satisfactory beam angles.