Prediction-based breathing control apparatus for radiation therapy

A system comprising:

• one or more moveable axes of a radiotherapy device other than a rotatable radiotherapy gantry;
• an emission device mounted to the radiotherapy gantry to emit a treatment radiation beam;
• and
• a processor to:
• receive an indication of occurrences of a substantially periodic treatment opportunity for a target volume of a patient from a motion detecting device, the treatment opportunity being a period of time the target volume is in a position to be irradiated according to a burst mode treatment plan to be administered by a radiotherapy device;
• determine a future treatment opportunity for a target volume of a patient, the future treatment opportunity being a period of time the target volume will be in a position to be irradiated according to the burst mode treatment plan in the future;
• begin synchronization of a prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation and the future treatment opportunity;
• present, to the patient, an indication of timing data indicative of a time until the prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation will occur;
• and
• irradiate the target volume during the synchronization of the future treatment opportunity and the prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation.

A non-statutory storage medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the medium comprising:

• instructions to receive an indication of occurrences of a substantially periodic treatment opportunity for a target volume of a patient from a motion detection device, the treatment opportunity being a period of time the target volume is in a position to be irradiated according to a burst mode treatment plan to be administered by a radiotherapy device;
• instructions to determine a future treatment opportunity for a target volume of a patient, the future treatment opportunity being a period of time the target volume will be in a position to be irradiated according to the burst mode treatment plan in the future;
• instructions to begin synchronization of a prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation and the future treatment opportunity;
• instructions to present, to the patient, an indication of timing data indicative of a time until the prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation will occur;
• and
• instructions to irradiate the target volume during the synchronization of the future treatment opportunity and the prescribed delivery period of burst mode irradiation.