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US 2021/0228906 A1Published application
System, computer program product and method for ion-based radiotherapy treatment planning
AssigneeRaySearch Laboratories AB
InventorErik TRANEUS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Accumulated path length for ions that reach a particular area of a patient is used in dose planning as an indicator of plan robustness. Also, the magnitude of the variations of the accumulated path lengths is determined for a number of beam directions, allowing beam directions to be selected for maximum robustness in treatment planning.
Claims14
1:
- A computer-based method for evaluating the robustness of a radiotherapy treatment plan for ion based radiotherapy, performed in a processor, for a selected beam direction, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining information for each of at least a first and a second portion in a treatment volume, related to accumulated path length of tissue traversed by ions when they reach the portion;
- calculating a quantity value representative of the accumulated path length for each of the at least first and second portion;
- and
- determining the robustness of the plan based on the quantity values for the first and second portion.
2 more elements
2:
- The method according to claim 1, wherein the accumulated path length is a Water Equivalent Path Length, WEPL.
3:
- The method according to claim 1, wherein the accumulated path length is a geometrical path length.
4:
- The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying, in an image of the treatment volume, for each of the first and the second portion of the treatment volume, information representing the quantity value.
5:
- The method according to claim 1, wherein the information related to the quantity values for ions that reach the portion of the treatment volume includes a value indicating an average of the accumulated path lengths traversed by at least two ions that will reach the portion of the treatment volume.
6:
- The method according to claim 4, wherein each quantity value is assigned a colour and the step of displaying information representing the accumulated path length includes displaying a representation of the treatment volume, where each of the at least first and second portions of the treatment volume is displayed in the colour representing the path length calculated for that portion of the treatment volume.
7:
- The method according to claim 4, wherein each quantity value is assigned an elevation level and the step of displaying information representing the path lengths includes displaying a 3-dimensional representation of the treatment volume, where each of the at least first and second portions of the treatment volume is displayed at the elevation level representing the path length calculated for that portion of the treatment volume.
8:
- The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of using the quantity information comprises determining the robustness of a treatment plan, in inverse dependence of the path length variations for at least one beam direction that is used in the plan.
9:
- A method of ion-based radiotherapy treatment planning comprising determining the robustness of each of at least two possible beam directions by performing the steps of:
- obtaining information and calculating a quantity value for each of the at least two possible beam directions;
- and
- selecting at least one beam direction to be used in the treatment among the possible beam directions in dependence of their quantity values.
1 more element
10:
- The method of ion-based radiotherapy treatment planning according to claim 9, wherein the selection of the at least one beam direction is performed by an operator.
11:
- The method of ion-based radiotherapy treatment planning according to claim 9, wherein the selection is made as part of a computer-implemented optimization.
12:
- A computer program product comprising non-transitory computer readable code means which, when executed in a computer, will cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 1.
13:
- A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable instructions which, when run in a first computer device will cause the device to perform the method according to claim 1.
14:
- A computer system comprising a processor, a data memory, and a program memory, wherein the program memory comprises a computer program product according to claim 12.