Ray Tracing Collision Detection in Radiotherapy Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
In radiation therapy, there is a risk of collisions between moving components in the treatment room, which can lead to safety and comfort issues for patients, as existing systems lack effective collision detection and prevention mechanisms during planning and execution.
Innovation Solution
A radiation therapy simulation and planning device that uses a computer and non-transitory storage medium to generate configurations of components, compute proximities using ray tracing, and identify collisions, allowing for the display and adjustment of component positions to avoid collisions, thereby optimizing radiation delivery plans and ensuring patient safety and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If collision detection and prevention mechanisms are implemented during radiation therapy planning and execution, then patient safety and comfort are improved, but device complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs collision detection during the radiation therapy planning phase, before actual treatment delivery. By generating multiple component configurations and computing proximities in advance, the system identifies potential collisions and allows clinicians to adjust the treatment plan to avoid them, preventing safety issues before they occur
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates virtual copies of physical components (radiation delivery device, patient support, imaging devices, etc.) in a simulated environment. These digital models allow collision detection algorithms to operate on representations rather than physical objects, reducing computational complexity while maintaining detection accuracy
2Measurement precision
If ray tracing is used to compute proximities between components, then collision detection accuracy is improved, but computational time and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the treatment room environment into discrete component configurations, each representing a specific state of the radiation delivery system. By processing each configuration separately and identifying collisions configuration-by-configuration, the system manages computational complexity while maintaining high precision in proximity measurements
Solution Approach 2:
The system computes proximities for all pairs of components in each configuration, which may be more computations than strictly necessary. However, this exhaustive approach ensures no potential collisions are missed, and the comprehensive data can be used for both collision detection and optimization purposes
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for radiation therapy simulation or planning is disclosed which aids in avoiding collisions during treatment. Configurations of components including at least a radiation delivery device (30) and a patient (32) are generated. Each configuration defines positions of the components in a common coordinate system. For each configuration, proximities of pairs of components of the configuration are computed using ray tracing between three-dimensional surface models (30m, 32m, 36m, 38m) representing the components of the pair. A collision is identified as any pair of components having a computed proximity that is less than a margin for the pair of components. Each identified collision is displayed on a display (12), e.g. as a rendering. The simulations or planning may be used to verify deliverability of arc, 4Pi, or static therapy, to determine safety margins for collisions, to calculate and display realizable trajectories, and so forth.