High-dose rate brachytherapy system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016199668-A1
Application number	US-201414914400-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 15, 2014
Priority date	Sep 19, 2013
Publication date	Jul 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The invention relates to a HDR brachytherapy system comprising an ultrasound sensor for being arranged at the location of a brachytherapy catheter ( 12 ), wherein the ultrasound sensor is adapted to generate an ultrasound signal based on ultrasound radiation, which has been sent by an ultrasound imaging device preferentially comprising a TRUS probe ( 40 ) and which has been received by the ultrasound sensor. The position of the ultrasound sensor is determined based on the generated ultrasound signal, and based on this position of the ultrasound sensor the pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter and/or the position of a HDR radiation source are determined. This allows for a very accurate determination of the pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter and/or of the position of the HDR radiation source, which in turn can lead to an improved HDR brachytherapy.

First claim

1 . A high-dose rate brachytherapy system for performing a high-dose rate brachytherapy, the high-dose rate brachytherapy system comprising:
a brachytherapy catheter to be inserted into or close to a target region inside a living being, an elongated introduction element with a radiation source ( 10 ) for applying radiation emitted by the radiation source to the target region ( 11 ), wherein the brachytherapy catheter and the introduction element are adapted to allow the introduction element to be introduced into the brachytherapy catheter, an ultrasound imaging device for generating an ultrasound image of the inside of the living being by sending ultrasound radiation into the inside of the living being and by measuring ultrasound radiation reflected by the inside of the living being, an ultrasound sensor for being arranged at the location of the brachytherapy catheter within the living being, wherein the ultrasound sensor is adapted to generate an ultrasound signal based on ultrasound radiation sent by the ultrasound imaging device and received by the ultrasound sensor, a position determining unit for determining the position of the ultrasound sensor based on the generated ultrasound signal and for determining the pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter within the living being and/or the position of the radiation source, when the introduction element has been introduced into the brachytherapy catheter, based on the determined position of the ultrasound sensor.

2 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a guidewire equipped with the ultrasound sensor, wherein the guidewire is adapted to be inserted into the brachytherapy catheter for arranging the ultrasound sensor at the location of the brachytherapy catheter within the living being, wherein the guidewire is adapted to be inserted into and retracted from the brachytherapy catheter, wherein the ultrasound sensor is adapted to generate ultrasound signals, while the guidewire is inserted into and/or retracted from the brachytherapy catheter, and wherein the position determining unit 44 is adapted to determine different positions of the ultrasound sensor based on the ultrasound signals generated while the guidewire is inserted into and/or retracted from the brachytherapy catheter and to determine the pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter based on the determined positions of the ultrasound sensor.

3 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 2 , wherein the ultrasound imaging device is a two-dimensional ultrasound imaging device for generating a two-dimensional image of an imaging plane within the living being, wherein the position of the imaging plane is modifiable, in order to send ultrasound radiation into different regions within the living being for allowing the ultrasound sensor to generate the ultrasound signals, while the ultrasound sensor is at the different positions during the insertion and/or retraction of the guidewire, wherein the system further comprises an imaging plane position providing unit for providing the respective position of the imaging plane and a guidewire control unit for controlling the insertion and/or retraction of the guidewire based on the determined position of the imaging plane such that the ultrasound sensor is within the imaging plane, when the position of the imaging plane is modified, wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine the positions of the ultrasound sensor based on the generated ultrasound signals and the provided respective positions of the imaging plane.

4 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 2 , wherein the guidewire is equipped with several ultrasound sensors, wherein each ultrasound sensor is adapted to generate an ultrasound signal based on ultrasound radiation sent by the ultrasound imaging device and received by the respective ultrasound sensor, wherein the position determining unit is adapted to:
determine for each ultrasound sensor a set of different positions of the respective ultrasound sensor based on the respective ultrasound signals generated during the insertion and/or retraction of the guidewire, determine for each set of different positions of the respective ultrasound sensor a pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter, thereby determining a set of poses and shapes of the brachytherapy catheter, and average the poses and shapes of the determined set of poses and shapes of the brachytherapy catheter for determining an average pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter.

5 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the system comprises several ultrasound sensors for being arranged along the length of the brachytherapy catheter, wherein each ultrasound sensor is adapted to generate an ultrasound signal based on ultrasound radiation sent by the ultrasound imaging device and received by the respective ultrasound sensor, wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine the positions of the ultrasound sensors based on the ultrasound signals generated by the ultrasound sensors and to determine the pose and shape of the brachytherapy catheter based on the determined positions.

6 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 5 , wherein the ultrasound imaging device is a two-dimensional ultrasound imaging device for generating a two-dimensional image of an imaging plane within the living being, wherein the position of the imaging plane is modifiable, in order to send ultrasound radiation into different regions within the living being for allowing the several ultrasound sensors to generate ultrasound signals based on the ultrasound radiation sent by the ultrasound imaging device and received by the respective ultrasound sensor, wherein the system further comprises an imaging plane position providing unit for providing the respective position of the imaging plane, wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine the positions of the ultrasound sensors based on the respective ultrasound signals generated by the ultrasound sensors and the determined respective positions of the imaging plane.

7 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the introduction element is equipped with the ultrasound sensor such that the ultrasound sensor is arranged within the brachytherapy catheter, when the introduction element has been introduced into the brachytherapy catheter, wherein the system further comprises a spatial relation providing unit for providing a spatial relation between the ultrasound sensor and the radiation source, wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine the position of the radiation source, when the introduction element has been introduced into the brachytherapy catheter, based on the generated ultrasound signal and the provided spatial relation.

8 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a display for displaying the determined position on the generated ultrasound image.

9 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 8 , wherein the system further comprises a treatment plan providing unit for providing a treatment plan defining planned dwell positions within the living being, at which the radiation source should be arranged, wherein the system is adapted to also show the planned dwell positions on the generated image.

10 . The high-dose rate brachytherapy system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a treatment plan providing unit for providing a treatment plan defining planned dwell positions within the living being, at which the radiation source should be arranged,

Assignees

• Koninkl Philips Nv

Inventors

• Bharat Shyam
• Dehghan Marvast Ehsan
• Tahmasebi Maraghoosh Amir Mohammad
• Vignon Francois Guy Gerard Marie
• Jain Ameet Kumar
• Binnekamp Dirk

Classifications

• A61N2005/1061

  using an x-ray imaging system having a separate imaging source · CPC title

• A61N2005/1058

  using ultrasound imaging · CPC title

• A61N2005/1024

  Seeds · CPC title

• A61N5/1071

  for verifying the dose delivered by the treatment plan · CPC title

• A61N5/1049

  for verifying the position of the patient with respect to the radiation beam · CPC title