Image guided radiotherapy apparatus and control method therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12496465-B2
Application number	US-202318206070-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2023
Priority date	Jun 6, 2022
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

An image guided radiotherapy apparatus and a control method are provided. According to a specific embodiment, the radiotherapy apparatus includes: a treatment unit, which includes a treatment head for generating radiation beam for radiotherapy; an imaging unit for imaging a target area of a patient, wherein the imaging unit is integrated mounted with the treatment head. The radiotherapy apparatus of the present invention can be applicable to both extracorporeal and intraoperative radiotherapy, and has a high radiotherapy accuracy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An image guided radiotherapy apparatus, comprising:
a treatment unit, comprising a treatment head for generating a radiation beam for radiotherapy; an imaging unit for imaging a target area of a patient, wherein the imaging unit is integratedly mounted with the treatment head; and a housing for accommodating the treatment head and the imaging unit; wherein the imaging unit comprises a camera assembly, and two or more light sources installed in the housing for providing illumination during imaging by the camera assembly, the two or more light sources being arranged around a vertical axis of the treatment head, wherein the treatment unit further comprises:
a chassis;
a fixed frame, which is fixedly connected to the chassis;
a motion assembly installed on the fixed frame and at least partially embedded in the fixed frame, wherein the treatment head is installed on the motion assembly;
a beam blocking assembly, which is movably arranged on the chassis; and
an applicator assembly coaxially arranged below the treatment head,
wherein the applicator assembly comprises an adapter and an applicator, the applicator being coaxially arranged with the adapter below the treatment head, and the adapter being fixedly installed at a bottom of the housing, and wherein the two or more light sources are installed below the camera assembly and set around the adapter.

2 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a planning unit connected to the treatment unit and the imaging unit via a connecting cable.

3 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment head comprises a beam irradiation device and a display screen for displaying images of the target area and/or beam irradiation parameters of the beam irradiation device.

4 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment head is configured to operate the motion assembly through at least one force control handle for movement.

5 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the chassis comprises a base, a first support leg, and a second support leg, wherein the first support leg and the second support leg are fixedly connected on opposite sides of the base, and the first support leg, the second support leg, and/or the base are provided with mounting holes for installing anchor bolts and/or mounting interfaces for installing rollers and carts, and wherein, the beam blocking assembly comprises a translational motion platform and a beam blocker, the translational motion platform is slidably arranged on the first support leg and the second support leg, the beam blocker is movably arranged on the translational motion platform relative to the support leg.

6 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the beam blocker is a heavy metal block with a thick middle and thin edges.

7 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly comprises two cameras symmetrically installed on opposite sides of the treatment head.

8 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the camera is a dual spectral camera configured to perform both visible light imaging and fluorescence imaging.

9 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging unit further comprises an image acquisition control circuit configured to adjust imaging parameters and perform segmentation processing on the generated image.

10 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the planning unit is configured to generate an anatomical structure contour of a target area based on an optical image obtained by the imaging unit.

11 . The radiotherapy apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the planning unit is configured to register an optical image of a treatment area with a modal image of the treatment area to obtain a fused image.

12 . A control method for a radiotherapy apparatus, the apparatus comprising a treatment unit which comprises a treatment head for generating radiation beam for radiotherapy; an imaging unit integratedly mounted with the treatment head for imaging a target area of a patient; a housing for accommodating the treatment head and the imaging unit; and a planning unit connected to the treatment unit and the imaging unit via a connecting cable,
wherein the imaging unit comprises a camera assembly, and two or more light sources installed in the housing for providing illumination during imaging by the camera assembly, the two or more light sources being arranged around a vertical axis of the treatment head, wherein the treatment unit further comprises: a chassis; a fixed frame, which is fixedly connected to the chassis: a motion assembly installed on the fixed frame and at least partially embedded in the fixed frame, the treatment head being installed on the motion assembly; a beam blocking assembly, which is movably arranged on the chassis and an applicator assembly coaxially arranged below the treatment head, wherein the applicator assembly comprises an adapter and an applicator, the applicator being coaxially arranged with the adapter below the treatment head, and the adapter being fixedly installed at a bottom of the housing, wherein the two or more light sources are installed below the camera assembly and set around the adapter, and wherein the control method comprises:
positioning the radiotherapy apparatus so that the center point of a treatment area coincides with a virtual isocenter of the radiotherapy apparatus;
obtaining an optical image of the treatment area by using the imaging unit;
using the planning unit to generate an anatomical structure contour of the target area based on the optical image; and
determining, by the planning unit, a size parameter and/or motion parameter of the treatment unit based on the anatomical structure contour, and sending the motion parameter to the treatment unit for execution.

Assignees

• Cancer Hospital Cams
• Shaanxi Huaming Putai Medical Equip Co Ltd
• Univ Tsinghua
• Beijing Institute Tech
• Univ Beihang
• Beijing Patesi Tech Co Ltd
• Huiying Medical Tech Beijing Co Ltd
• Univ Beijing Inf Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Dai Jianrong
• Niu Chuanmeng
• Li Yanfei
• Zha Hao
• Ma Pan
• Wang Shirong
• Zhou Fugen
• Li Hongda
• Li Minghui
• Lv Guozheng
• Chai Xiangfei
• Peng Baoying
• Zhang Jinyan

Classifications

• A61N2005/1059

  using cameras imaging the patient · CPC title

• A61N5/103

  Treatment planning systems · CPC title

• A61N2005/1074

  Details of the control system, e.g. user interfaces · CPC title

• A61N5/1065

  Beam adjustment · CPC title

• A61N5/1039

  using functional images, e.g. PET or MRI · CPC title