Apparatus for and method of carrying out stereotaxic radiosurgery and radiotherapy

An apparatus for carrying out radiosurgery on a particular target region within a patient, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) means for generating a radiosurgical beam of radiation;
• (b) beam aiming means for supporting said beam generating means in a way which directs said beam along a beam path through the target region;
• (c) means for moving said beam aiming means along a predetermined, non-circular and non-linear path transverse to said beam path while, at the same time, said beam path is directed into the target region, whereby directing said radiosurgical beam through said target region at particular treatment points along said non-circular and non-linear path defines a non-spherical target region;
• and
• further including means for generating a computed imaginary sphere having a surface and having a center within said target region and further comprising means for providing that said means for moving the beam aiming means does so in a way which causes the point at which said beam is generated to move along said transverse path which said transverse path at all time remains on said surface of said imaginary sphere.

An apparatus for carrying out radiosurgery on a particular target region within a patent, said arrangement comprising:

• (a) means for generating a radiosurgical beam of radiation;
• (b) means including a robotic arm for supporting said beam generating means in a way which directs said beam along a beam path through said target region;
• (c) means for moving said robotic arm and therefore said radiosurgical beam along a predetermined path transverse to said beam path while, at the same time, said beam path is directed into said target region;
• and
• (d) emergency stop means separate from and independent of said means including said robotic arm for automatically stopping all movement of said robotic arm and turning off said beam if said robotic arm deviates from said transverse path;
• wherein said emergency stop means includes fixedly mounted signal transmitting/receiving means mounted to a fixed surface other than said robotic arm for transmitting and receiving signals, movable signal transmitting/receiving means mounted to said robotic arm having a different position at different times for movement therewith and in signal communication with said fixedly mounted signal transmitting/receiving means, and means for cooperating with said fixedly mounted transmitting/receiving means and for continuously monitoring the position at a given time of said robotic arm and said radiosurgical beam generating means;
• and
• wherein said fixedly mounted signal transmitting/receiving means includes a plurality of first devices, each of which including means for transmitting coded infrared signals and including means for receiving coded ultrasound signals, and wherein said movable signal transmitting/receiving means includes a plurality of second devices, each of which including means for transmitting coded ultrasound signals and including means for receiving coded infrared signals.

A method of carrying out stereotaxic surgery on a particular target region having a position within a patient utilizing previously obtained reference data indicating the position of said target region with respect to its surrounding area which also contains certain nearby reference points, each of which having a location said method comprising:

• (a) generating a radiation beam;
• (b) generating target locating beams;
• (c) intermittently directing a radiosurgical beam of radiation into said target region;
• (d) intermittently directing a plurality of target locating beams of radiation into and through the surrounding area containing said target region and reference points so that the target locating means, after passing through the surrounding area, contain location data indicating said locations of said reference points within the surrounding area, thus providing a plurality of target positioning periods;
• (e) in response to said intermittently directed target locating beams (i) for obtaining the location data from said target locating beams, (ii) intermittently comparing the location data so obtained with the previously obtained reference data, and (iii) determining from each of the intermittent comparisons the position of the target region with respect to said locations of the reference points as a result of each such comparison;
• (f) carrying out steps (c), (d) and (e) in cooperation with one another (i) such that said radiosurgical beam is directed into said target region only during intermittent treatment periods and alternatively therewith, said target locating beams are directed through said surrounding area only during intermittent target locating periods and (ii) such that, during each target locating period, the most recently obtained location data from said locating beams is used during that period to compare the location data with the reference data and determine the position of the target with respect to said location of the reference points;
• and
• (g) during said target locating period and responsive to the most recently determined position of the target region within that period, insuring that said radiosurgical beam is accurately directed into said region.

A method of carrying out radiosurgery on a particular target region within a patient, said method comprising:

• (a) generating a radiosurgical beam of radiation at a point by means of a beam generating device;
• (b) supporting said beam generating device in a way which directs said beam along a beam path through said target region;
• (c) moving said beam device along a predetermined, non-circular and non-linear path transverse to said beam path while, at the same time, said beam path is directed into said target region, whereby directing said radiosurgical beam through said target region at particular treatment points along said non-circular and non-linear path defines a non-spherical target region;
• and
• further including the step of generating a computed imaginary sphere having a surface and having a center within said target region and providing the step of moving said beam generating device in a way which causes the point at which said beam is generated to move along said transverse path while said transverse path at all times remains on said surface of said imaginary sphere having said center within said target region.