Proton beam therapy control system

A tiered communication architecture for a proton beam therapy device comprising a distributed network which provides substantially transparent communications between one or more host applications and a plurality of hardware devices associated with the generation and alignment of a radiation beam used to treat a patient, the architecture comprising;

• an agent device connected to each application and to each hardware device through a plurality of discrete data channels such that a single data channel between the host application and the agent allows communications between the host application and the plurality of hardware devices wherein the agent routes communications between the host application and the plurality of hardware devices through the single data channel thereby reducing the number of data channels required in the distributed network and improving network scalability;
• a monitor component associated with each hardware device used to receive instructions from the host application routed through the agent and transform the instructions into a hardware recognized form that are subsequently executed on the hardware device, the monitor component further used to receive an information response from the hardware device and forward the information response back to the host application through agent;
• and
• a proctor component resident in the monitor component which evaluates the information response obtained from the hardware device and identifies anomalous hardware behavior and further issues one or more safety measures when anomalous hardware behavior is detected wherein the proctor component monitors the hardware device independent of the operation of the one or more host applications and implements corrective action without the one or more host applications being active.

A tiered communications system for managing communications in a distributed network, the system comprising:

• a client connected to the distributed network and configured to transmit instructions to a plurality of hardware devices through a single channel, wherein the client and the plurality of hardware devices are part of a proton beam therapy system;
• an agent connected to the client through the distributed network and further connected to the plurality of hardware devices such that each hardware device is connected to the agent by a single channel wherein the agent receives the instructions transmitted by the client, identifies a destination hardware device for which the instruction is intended, and routes the instruction to the destination hardware device through an appropriate channel thereby reducing the number of channels required in the distributed network and improving network scalability;
• a monitor associated with the destination hardware device and further connected to the distributed network which receives the instruction routed by the agent, identifies a hardware-recognizable command associated with the instruction, and thereafter issues the hardware-recognizable command to the destination hardware device for subsequent execution;
• and
• a proctor which monitors the destination hardware device independent of the operation of the client and implements corrective action without the client being activated.

A method for exchanging information in a proton beam therapy system comprising a client and a plurality of hardware devices wherein the client issues instructions which control and monitor the plurality of hardware devices, the method comprising;

• establishing a first communication channel between the client and an agent which is configured to communicate with the client and receive instructions transmitted therefrom;
• establishing a plurality of second communication channels between the agent and each hardware device;
• routing the instructions issued by the client using the agent such that the instructions are forwarded to the appropriate hardware device in a substantially transparent manner such that the first communication channel between the client and the agent allows client communications with the plurality of hardware devices through the plurality of second communication channels;
• receiving the instructions using a monitor module residing on each hardware device which transforms the instructions into a hardware recognized format to be subsequently executed by the hardware device;
• and
• monitoring the hardware devices with a proctor wherein the proctor is independent of the client and implements corrective action without the client being activated.

A method for exchanging information in a proton beam therapy system comprising one or more host applications and a plurality of hardware devices wherein the host applications are desirably used to control and monitor the plurality of hardware devices through the transmission of a plurality of instructions, the method comprising;

• establishing a first communication channel between each host application and an agent device which is configured to communicate with the host application and receive the transmitted instructions;
• establishing a plurality of second communication channels between the agent device and each hardware device such that each hardware device is connected to the agent by a single communication channel;
• routing the instructions issued by the host applications using the agent device such that the instructions are forwarded to the appropriate hardware device in a substantially transparent manner thereby allowing host application communications with the plurality of hardware devices through the first communication channel substantially reducing the number of communications channels required and improving network scalability;
• receiving the instructions using a monitor module residing on each hardware device which transforms the instructions into a hardware recognized format to be subsequently executed by the hardware device;
• and
• monitoring the one or more hardware components with one or more proctors that operate independent of the one or more host applications and implement corrective action without the one or more applications being activated.

A method for communicating and controlling a distributed system of network resources, the method comprising:

• establishing a first communication channel between a client device and an agent device;
• establishing a second communication channel between the agent device and at least one hardware device, wherein the client and at least one hardware device are part of a proton beam therapy system;
• processing data transferred between the client device and the agent device and furthermore the agent device and the monitor device according to a client process which requests access to the distributed system of hardware resources, an agent process which manages the communication channels and provides routing for client process requests, and a monitor process which accepts requests from the agent process, executes the requests, and returns any results to the client process such that client communications through the first communication channel substantially reduces the number of total communications channels required and improving network scalability:
• and
• monitoring the performance of the at least one hardware device with a proctor wherein the proctor operates independently of the client device and takes corrective action independent of whether the client device is activated.