Data processing: structural design – modeling – simulation – and em – Simulating nonelectrical device or system – Biological or biochemical
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-09
2001-07-10
Teska, Kevin J. (Department: 2123)
Data processing: structural design, modeling, simulation, and em
Simulating nonelectrical device or system
Biological or biochemical
C703S002000, C703S005000, C703S006000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260005
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for obtaining optimized radiation dose deposition, and more particularly for automatically generating individually optimized treatment strategies for multiple treatment goals on a single patient, multiple patients or treatment sites.
2. Description of Related Art
The goal of radiation therapy is to deliver a high, curative dose to a tumor, while minimizing the dose to normal tissues and limiting the dose in critical healthy structures to their radiation dose tolerance. In the past several years, significant advances have been made to identify and characterize in three dimensions the patient's tumor, as well as normal, sensitive structures, and then deliver a high dose that conforms to the three-dimensional volume of the tumor. Enabling imaging technologies are computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the body, which are now a common part of radiation therapy planning. New methods for specifically identifying the location of tumors and cancerous tissue include magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and proton emission spectroscopy (PET). In addition, computer-controlled beam modifiers, such as multileaf collimators and dynamic wedges on linear accelerators offer the ability to both shape the radiation beam and sculpt the beam profile in three dimensions. Sculpting the beam profile is accomplished using a technique referred to as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Incorporated in multiple-beam plans, IMRT can deliver a complex map of dose, in which the therapy can be made to conform closely to the patient's tumor.
Two critical links required for accurate delivery of the optimal conformal therapy plan are the ability to accurately predict the dose distribution in the patient (given a dose-delivery configuration), and the ability to optimize the treatment plan or dose delivery configuration to yield the most advantageous dose distribution for the patient. The PEREGRINE dose calculation system, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, uses Monte Carlo transport calculations to provide highly accurate three-dimensional dose calculation for radiation therapy. The FALCON automated planning system, described here, uses these accurate dose calculations to identify and prescribe the treatment plan that best meets the planners treatment objectives.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated radiation therapy dose planning system that uses the dose calculations from any arbitrarily accurate dose calculation system, including PEREGRINE, to identify the treatment plan that best meets the planners treatment objectives.
FALCON enables identification of the most optimized treatment configuration for multiple treatment goals simultaneously. More generally the methods described here will provide the optimized configuration with accuracy limited by the accuracy of the dose calculation algorithm and can be used for highly accurate algorithms including Monte Carlo techniques.
The FALCON system provides an automated radiation therapy dose planning system that uses the accurate dose calculations from the PEREGRINE dose calculation system or other dose calculation methods to identify the treatment plan that best meets the planners treatment objectives, thus providing a method for automatic multivariable optimization for arbitrary assessment criteria. The PEREGRINE dose calculation system is described in U.S. Pat No. 5,870,697 titled: “Calculation of Radiation Therapy Dose Using All Particle Monte Carlo Transport” which is incorporated herein by reference. FALCON can be applied to numerous fields where outcome simulation is combined with optimization and assessment criteria. A specific embodiment of FALCON is for automatic radiation therapy treatment planning. FALCON implements dose calculations into the planning process and optimizes available beam delivery modifier parameters to determine the treatment plan that best meets clinical decision-making criteria. FALCON is herein described in the context of the optimization of external-beam radiation therapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), but the concepts are also applicable to internal (brachytherapy) radiotherapy. The radiation beams that are usable in the present invention include photons or any charged or uncharged particles.
In the radiation therapy implementation, the method divides the problem into the following four discrete steps.
1. Case setup.
2. Beamlet dose calculation.
3. Beamlet weight optimization.
4. Plan assessment.
This method decouples the time-consuming processes of dose calculation, optimization and assessment, and rapidly optimizes the treatment plan for any arbitrary assessment criteria.
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patent: 5341292 (1994-08-01), Zamenhof
Solberg; “Implications of tissue heterogeneity for radiosurgery in head and neck tumors”; Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biology Physics; vol. 32; pp. 235-239, Apr. 1995.*
Morrill; “Conventional treatment planning optimization using simulated annealing”; Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biology Physics; vol. 32; pp. 298, 1995.*
Williamson; “The Sievert integral revisited: evaluation and extension to low energy brachytherapy”, Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biology Physics; vol. 32; pp. 200, 1995.
Hartmann-Siantar Christine
Moses Edward I.
Yang Tser-Yuan
Jones Hugh
Teska Kevin J.
The Regents of the University of California
Thompson Alan H.
Woolridge John P.
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