Tumor Tracking via Pre-Treatment Mapping for Radiation Therapy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current targeted radiation treatment methods are invasive, costly, and restrictive, often requiring patients to remain still and exposed to excessive radiation, while also being inefficient in handling non-breathing movements and beam positioning errors.
Innovation Solution
The development of a system that allows patients to move freely during treatment by using pre-treatment scans to create a mapping model of tumor location relative to body markers, enabling accurate radiation beam trajectory determination without invasive fiducials and minimizing radiation exposure, and employing sensor feedback for precise beam positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If repeated x-rays are taken to update tumor position during breathing, then tumor location accuracy is improved, but patient radiation exposure increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by taking comprehensive x-rays before treatment to establish a library of tumor positions at different breathing phases, then uses this pre-acquired data with tracking markers to determine tumor location during treatment without additional x-rays. This resolves the contradiction by obtaining accurate tumor position information in advance, eliminating the need for repeated radiation exposure during the procedure.
2Measurement precision
If fiducials are surgically implanted to mark tumor location, then tumor tracking accuracy is improved, but patient discomfort and procedural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses tracking markers placed on the patient's skin or clothing as intermediaries to monitor body movement, which then correlates to tumor position through pre-established anatomical relationships. This eliminates the need for invasive fiducial implantation while maintaining tracking accuracy, as the markers serve as non-invasive proxies for internal tumor location.
3Stability of the object's composition
If patient is restricted to specified position during treatment, then tumor position stability is improved, but patient comfort and treatment versatility decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from static position restriction to dynamic tracking by continuously monitoring patient movement through tracking markers and correlating this movement to tumor position changes. This allows the patient to move freely during treatment while the system dynamically updates the tumor location, maintaining accuracy without requiring positional stability or restriction.
4Measurement precision
If multiple x-rays are taken to account for breathing motion, then motion compensation accuracy is improved, but treatment time and radiation exposure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing comprehensive breathing motion data and establishing the relationship between external markers and internal tumor position before treatment begins. During treatment, this pre-established model allows real-time motion compensation using only tracking marker data, eliminating the need for repeated x-rays and significantly reducing treatment time while maintaining motion compensation accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for targeting diseased tissue with a radiation beam. Functional models can be used to accurately obtain a location of specific tissue using sensors at identifiable locations of the patient's body. Using the relative distances between the identifiable sensor locations can allow a patient to be in various positions. The functional models can be prepared using accurate pre-treatment scans, which can be taken at various body positions (e.g., rotations and/or translations). The trajectory of the beam can be measured efficiently and accurately using beam sensors attached to a beam assembly, where a model maps the beam sensor locations to a trajectory of the beam. Further, a motion model can use measurements made during treatment to obtain a time-dependent functions of the movement of the specific tissue, the change of an optimal beam trajectory over time, or the change in input commands to a beam positioner.