Image guided patient setup for radiotherapy

A computer-implemented method for setting up a patient for radiotherapy, the method comprising:

• acquiring free-breathing data describing a spatial position of a reference structure of the patient in a free-breathing state, wherein the free-breathing data describes an time-averaged spatial position of the reference structure;
• acquiring deep-inspiration-breath-hold data describing an image dataset of the patient in a state of a deep-inspiration-breath-hold, showing at least the reference structure and a target structure of the patient, which is to be irradiated;
• determining registration data based on the free-breathing data and the deep-inspiration-breath-hold data, describing a spatial correspondence between the reference structure in the free-breathing state and the target structure in the state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold;
• acquiring isocentre data describing the spatial position of an isocentre of a radiation treatment apparatus;
• determining positioning data based on the registration data and the isocentre data, describing a spatial position of the reference structure in the free-breathing state, for which a spatial position of the target structure in the corresponding state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold conforms with the spatial position of the isocentre of the radiation treatment apparatus.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed on at least one processor of at least one computer, causes the at least one computer to perform the steps of:

• acquiring free-breathing data describing a spatial position of a reference structure of the patient in a free-breathing state, wherein the free-breathing data describes a time-averaged spatial position of the reference structure;
• acquiring deep-inspiration-breath-hold data describing an image dataset of the patient in a state of a deep-inspiration-breath-hold, showing at least the reference structure and a target structure of the patient, which is to be irradiated;
• determining registration data based on the free-breathing data and the deep-inspiration-breath-hold data, describing a spatial correspondence between the reference structure in the free-breathing state and the target structure in the state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold;
• acquiring isocentre data describing the spatial position of an isocentre of a radiation treatment apparatus;
• determining positioning data based on the registration data and the isocentre data, describing a spatial position of the reference structure in the free-breathing state, for which a spatial position of the target structure in the corresponding state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold conforms with the spatial position of the isocentre of the radiation treatment apparatus.

A medical system for setting up a patient for radiotherapy, comprising:

• at least one processor having associated memory with program instructions, the instructions, when executed, operable to:
• acquire free-breathing data describing a spatial position of a reference structure of the patient in a free-breathing state, wherein the free-breathing data describes a time-averaged spatial position of the reference structure;
• acquire deep-inspiration-breath-hold data describing an image dataset of the patient in a state of a deep-inspiration-breath-hold, showing at least the reference structure and a target structure of the patient, which is to be irradiated;
• determine registration data based on the free-breathing data and the deep-inspiration-breath-hold data, describing a spatial correspondence between the reference structure in the free-breathing state and the target structure in the state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold;
• acquiring isocentre data describing the spatial position of an isocentre of a radiation treatment apparatus;
• determine positioning data based on the registration data and the isocentre data, describing a spatial position of the reference structure in the free-breathing state, for which a spatial position of the target structure in the corresponding state of the deep-inspiration-breath-hold conforms with the spatial position of the isocentre of the radiation treatment apparatus;
• at least one electronic data storage device associated with the at least one processor and storing at least the free-breathing data and the deep-inspiration-breath-hold data;
• a medical device for carrying out a medical procedure on the patient;
• and
• wherein the at least one processor is operably coupled to the medical device for issuing a control signal to the medical device for controlling the operation of the medical device on the basis of the control data output.