Patient positioning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9950194-B2
Application number	US-201414481609-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2014
Priority date	Sep 9, 2014
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

An example treatment system includes: a treatment couch for holding a patient; fiducials associated with the patient; an imaging system to capture an image of the fiducials and of an irradiation target while the patient is on the treatment couch, where the image is captured in a treatment room where treatment is to be performed; a mechanism to move the treatment couch; and a computer system programmed to align locations of the fiducials to the fiducials in the image, and to determine a location of the irradiation target relative to a treatment system based on locations of the fiducials and based on the image. The movement of the treatment couch into a treatment position in the treatment room may be based on the location of the irradiation target.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of positioning a patient for treatment using a particle therapy system, comprising:
associating fiducials with the patient;
using a first imaging system located at an imaging position to capture a first image of the fiducials and of an irradiation target while the patient is on a treatment couch, the imaging position being in a treatment room where treatment using the particle therapy system is to be performed;
moving the treatment couch while the patient is on the treatment couch from the imaging position toward a treatment position at which the treatment using the particle therapy system is to be performed, the treatment position being different from the imaging position and being in the treatment room;
following movement of the treatment couch, using a second imaging system to capture a second image of the fiducials in the treatment room while the patient is on the treatment couch;
determining locations of the fiducials in the treatment room based on both the first image and the second image;
determining a location of the irradiation target relative to the particle therapy system based on locations of the fiducials in the treatment room and in the first image; and
moving the treatment couch into the treatment position in the treatment room based on the location of the irradiation target;
wherein the patient remains on the treatment couch during capturing the first image, through moving the treatment couch toward the treatment position, through capturing the second image, and through moving the treatment couch into the treatment position.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first imaging system is configured to capture internal images of the patient and of the fiducials; and
wherein the second imaging system is configured to capture external images of the fiducials.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first image comprises one or more of the following: an X-ray radiograph image, a computed tomography (CT) image that is captured by a CT imaging device, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image that is captured by an MRI imaging device, a positron emission tomography (PET) image that is captured by a PET device, an image captured by a video surface imaging device, or an image captured by a SPECT/CT device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
treating the patient at the treatment position;
wherein treating the patient comprising irradiating the patient with protons using the particle therapy system.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the particle therapy system has an isocenter, the isocenter comprising the treatment position.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location of the irradiation target relative to the particle therapy system is determined based on a reference coordinate system of the treatment room.

7. The method of claim, wherein the particle therapy system has an isocenter; and
wherein moving the treatment couch into the treatment position comprises moving the treatment couch so that the location of the irradiation target corresponds to the a location of the isocenter.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating fiducials with the patient comprises:
securing the patient to the treatment couch relative to the fiducials; or
securing the fiducials relative to the patient.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the treatment couch into the treatment position is performed using a robotic mechanism that moves the treatment couch automatically from the imaging position to the treatment position while the patient remains on the treatment couch.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the treatment couch is performed manually while the patient remains on the treatment couch.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating fiducials with the patient comprises arranging fiducials on the patient.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating fiducials with the patient comprises identifying anatomical landmarks on the patient, and designating the anatomical landmarks to be the fiducials.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating fiducials with the patient comprises arranging a frame over at least part of the patient, and securing the fiducials to the frame.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first image comprises a three-dimensional (3D) image or a two-dimensional (2D) image.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an orientation of the irradiation target based on locations of the fiducials in the treatment room and in the first image; and
orienting the treatment based on the orientation of the irradiation target.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tracking movement of the fiducials over time; and
controlling movement of the treatment couch based on movement of the fiducials.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tracking movement of the fiducials over time; and
controlling treatment based on movement of the fiducials.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the first image comprises capturing the first image at different times; and
wherein the method further comprises:
identifying movement of the fiducials based on different positions of the fiducials at different times; and
controlling treatment based on the movement.

19. A treatment system comprising:
a treatment couch for holding a patient;
fiducials associated with the patient;
a first imaging system located at an imaging position to capture a first image of the fiducials and of an irradiation target while the patient is on the treatment couch, the first imaging system being in a treatment room where treatment using a particle therapy system is to be performed;
a mechanism to move the treatment couch while the patient is on the treatment couch from the imaging position toward a treatment position at which the treatment using the particle therapy system is to be performed, the treatment position being different from the imaging position and being in the treatment room;
a second imaging system to capture a second image of the fiducials in the treatment room following movement of the treatment couch toward the treatment position and while the patient is on the treatment couch; and
a computer system programmed to align locations of the fiducials in the second image to locations in the treatment room, to align locations of fiducials in the first image to the locations in the treatment room, and to determine a location of the irradiation target relative to the particle therapy system based on the locations of the fiducials in the treatment room and based on the first image
wherein the mechanism to move the treatment couch is controllable to move the treatment couch based on the location of the irradiation target so that the irradiation target is in the treatment position;
wherein the patient remains on the treatment couch during capturing the first image, through moving the treatment couch toward the treatment position, and during capturing the second image.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first imaging system is configured to capture internal images of the patient and of the fiducials; and
wherein the second imaging system is configured to capture external images of the fiducials.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first imaging system comprises one or more of the following: an X-ray device to capture a radiograph image, a computed tomography (CT) device to capture a CT image, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device to capture an MM image, a positron emission tomog

Assignees

• Mevion Medical Systems Inc

Inventors

• Bouchet Lionel G
• Rakes Richard Bruce

Classifications

• A61N5/1049 Primary

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

• A61N2005/1052

  using positron emission tomography [PET] single photon emission computer tomography [SPECT] imaging · CPC title

• A61N2005/1061

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

• A61N2005/1055

  using magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] · CPC title

• A61N5/107

  in real time, i.e. during treatment · CPC title