Virtual Multi-Target Localization for Radiation Therapy Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing radiation therapy methods are time-consuming and inefficient for treating multiple patient target regions due to shifts in tumor and organ-at-risk positions, often leading to over-dosing or under-dosing, and require multiple patient repositionings, which can result in suboptimal treatment plans.
Innovation Solution
A method involving shift-invariant firing filters and functional operators for radiation delivery, allowing for virtual localization and treatment planning that accounts for multiple target regions, enabling efficient radiation delivery to multiple target regions without repeated patient repositioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple patient target regions are treated using repeated patient setup and localization, then each target region can be individually optimized, but the treatment process becomes time-consuming and requires multiple patient repositionings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the treatment plan into multiple virtual localization instances, each corresponding to a different target region. Instead of physically repositioning the patient multiple times, the system creates separate virtual localization scenarios that simulate different target positions, allowing each target region to be treated with optimized localization accuracy without repeated physical setup procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses virtual localization to create copies of the treatment plan adapted to different target region positions. By generating virtual localized treatment plans for each target region, the system replicates the precision of multiple physical localizations while avoiding the time-consuming repeated patient repositioning, thus resolving the contradiction between accuracy and time.
2Productivity
If a single patient setup arrangement is used for multiple target regions, then treatment efficiency is improved, but accurate registration and alignment of all targets becomes difficult when tumors shift relative to each other
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adaptation of the treatment plan for each target region by calculating individual virtual localized treatment plans. This allows the system to maintain high target alignment accuracy for each region while using a single physical patient setup, effectively making the treatment plan dynamic rather than static. The system adjusts the virtual localization and treatment parameters for each target region independently, resolving the contradiction between efficiency and precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If repeated patient repositioning is performed for each target region, then optimal localization for each target is achieved, but over-dosing of organs-at-risk and healthy tissue occurs due to individual treatment iterations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple virtual localized treatment plans into a single comprehensive treatment plan that addresses all target regions simultaneously. By combining the virtual localization results for different target regions, the system calculates a unified treatment plan that delivers optimal radiation doses to each target while avoiding repeated exposure of organs-at-risk and healthy tissue, thus resolving the contradiction between localization precision and harmful radiation exposure.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed herein are methods for patient setup and patient target region localization for the irradiation of multiple patient target regions in a single treatment session. Virtual localization is a method that can be used to register a patient target region without requiring that the patient is physically moved using the patient platform. Instead, the planned fluence is updated to reflect the current location of the patient target region by selecting a localization reference in the localization image, calculating a localization function based on the localization reference point, and calculating the delivery fluence by convolving the localization function with a shift-invariant firing filter. Mosaic multi-target localization partitions a planned fluence map for multiple patient target regions into sub -regions that can be individually localized. De-coupled multi -target localization involves generating a separate planned fluence map for each target but constraining a cumulative fluence map to ensure dosimetric goals are met.