Graphical representation of radiation therapy
Inventors
OWENS, Michael Kirk • OLCOTT, Peter Demetri • BASSALOW, Rostem
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12303718-B2
Publication Date
2025-05-20
Expiration Date
Abstract
Described herein are methods for monitoring the radiation delivery during a radiotherapy delivery session and providing a graphical representation of radiation delivery to an operator (e.g., a clinician, a medical physicist, a radiation therapy technologist). The graphics are updated in real-time, as radiation data is collected by the radiotherapy system, and in some variations, can be updated every 15 minutes or less. A variety of graphical representations (“graphics”) can be used to indicate the status of radiation delivery relative to the planned radiation delivery. Methods optionally include calculating a range of acceptable metric values, generating graphics that represent the range of acceptable metrics values, and generating a graphic that depicts the real-time values of those metrics overlaid with the range of acceptable metrics values.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a method for monitoring radiotherapy by detecting and acquiring PET imaging data of a target region using one or more PET detectors during delivery of radiation for a radiotherapy treatment session. The method calculates a dosimetric objective value using the acquired PET imaging data, where the dosimetric objective value represents a delivered radiation dose, and compares the dosimetric objective value with a range of acceptable dosimetric objective values for the treatment session.
The invention further generates a notification indicating whether the dosimetric objective value is within the range of acceptable dosimetric objective values. In checkpoint status reporting, a checkpoint status indicator displays PASS when the dosimetric objective value is within the acceptable range and FAIL when outside the acceptable range, and can generate a WARNING state when the dosimetric objective value is within a tolerance level of the upper and/or lower bounds of the acceptable range.
The disclosed monitoring uses dosimetric objective evaluation based on radiotherapy metrics, including isodose contours, dose gradients, dose-volume histogram (DVH) curves, bounded DVH curves, and plan quality indices (PQIs). The system can compute and display planned versus real-time values and provide graphics representing delivery verification checkpoints, including status indicators such as PASS/FAIL/WARNING/ACTIVE, and can visualize delivery-related representations such as sinogram/MLC firing patterns, including 2D/3D sinogram bitmasks and pseudocolor firing maps over gantry and leaf dimensions, to support real-time graphical monitoring during treatment and QA.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim includes four core inventive actions: PET detection during delivery, dosimetric objective value calculation from PET imaging data, comparison against a range of acceptable dosimetric objective values, and notification generation indicating whether the value is within range. Dependent claims further refine checkpoint status display semantics and acceptable range evaluation, including bounded DVH curves and tolerance-based WARNING behavior.
PET-based delivered dose objective calculation
Detecting and acquiring PET imaging data of a target region using one or more PET detectors during delivery of radiation for a radiotherapy treatment session, and calculating a dosimetric objective value using the acquired PET imaging data, wherein the dosimetric objective value represents a delivered radiation dose.
Acceptable range comparison for dosimetric objective values
Comparing the dosimetric objective value with a range of acceptable dosimetric objective values for the radiotherapy treatment session.
Notification of in-range versus out-of-range
Generating a notification that indicates whether the dosimetric objective value is within the range of acceptable dosimetric objective values.
Checkpoint status indicator semantics
Generating the notification by displaying a checkpoint status indicator indicating whether the dosimetric objective value is within an acceptable range, wherein the checkpoint status indicator shows PASS when the dosimetric objective value is within an acceptable range and FAIL when the dosimetric objective value is outside the acceptable range.
Tolerance-based warning relative to bounded range limits
Showing a checkpoint status indicator that shows WARNING when the dosimetric objective value is within a tolerance level of the upper and/or lower bounds of the acceptable dosimetric objective value range.
Bounded DVH curve acceptable range evaluation
Calculating a dose volume histogram (DVH) curve for the target region, defining an acceptable range using bounded DVH curves with an upper and lower bound, and comparing the calculated DVH curve to the bounded DVH curves to evaluate the dosimetric objective value.
Pausing radiation delivery when outside acceptable range
Pausing radiation delivery during the treatment session when a dosimetric objective value falls outside an acceptable range of dosimetric objective values.
Overall, the claim coverage centers on PET-based determination of a dosimetric objective value representing delivered dose, comparison against a defined acceptable range, and generation of a notification tied to checkpoint status, with acceptable range evaluation that can be represented using bounded DVH curves and can trigger pausing of radiation delivery when outside range.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
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