Patent Application
20120213332
This application claims the benefit of DE 10 2011 004 224.5, filed on Feb. 16, 2011.
The present embodiments relate to a radiation therapy system with a therapeutic radiation therapy module and at least one diagnostic X-ray imaging module.
The use of radiation to destroy diseased tissue is a widely used method in therapeutic medicine. Systems that employ high-energy, electromagnetic radiation (e.g., X-radiation, gamma radiation) or particle radiation (e.g., electrons, protons, carbon ions) are used. The radiation used for radiation therapy may be in the megavolt (MV) energy range. During radiation therapy, precise positioning of the patient is provided such that the body region to be irradiated (e.g., a tumor to be irradiated) is exposed to a sufficiently high radiation dose, but healthy tissue of the patient is damaged as little as possible. For the purposes of positioning, localization of the body region to be irradiated in the body of the patient may be performed during the treatment at regular time intervals. This may be performed using imaging X-ray procedures with radiation in the kilovolt (kV) energy range (e.g., using computed tomography). To avoid incorrect positioning of the patient, an examination of this kind may be performed directly in the irradiation position.
During irradiation treatments with irradiation from different directions, it is important that the treatment beam for each of the directions hits the tumor. The beams should intersect at a point lying in the region of the tissue to be irradiated. This point is the isocenter and represents the intersection of the beams corresponding to different irradiation positions.
DE 10 2010 034 101 A1 discloses a radiation therapy system based on the principle of in-line imaging with a kV-imaging apparatus permitting movement of the radiation unit in five degrees of freedom. In-line imaging (e.g., in-beam imaging) provides that the radiation unit may be used to generate radiation that may be used for diagnostic purposes. The generated radiation may be detected by a detector after penetration of the object. In this way, the therapeutic and diagnostic beams are substantially parallel and are supplied from the same source. In addition, the source may be adapted for low-energy radiation (e.g., kV-region) by, for example, using a carbon target instead of a tungsten target. This procedure is also described in the document “In-Line kView Imaging” from Siemens AG.
According to a further development of in-line imaging, an anti-parallel beam is used instead of a parallel diagnostic beam. The X-ray detector is replaced by an X-ray tube. The X-ray detector used for the detection of the diagnostic X-rays is arranged in a region of an outlet of the therapeutic beams. This imaging may be inverse-in-line imaging or inverse-in-beam imaging. After the performance of the diagnostic irradiation, the X-ray detector is removed from the beam path by, for example, swinging the X-ray detector out of the way.
The drawback of this embodiment of a radiation therapy system is that a patient lying on a patient table is freely accessible to the medical assistants from only one side of the patient table, while accessibility from the other side of the patient table is greatly restricted by the holding arm with the X-ray imaging module.
The present embodiments may obviate one or more of the drawbacks or limitations in the related art. For example, an improved radiation therapy system is provided.
In one embodiment, a radiation therapy system includes a radiation therapy module with a cantilever arm, from which a therapeutic treatment beam may be directed onto an object to be irradiated. The cantilever arm is secured on a kinematic control such that the cantilever arm may be rotated about an isocenter, thus enabling the therapeutic treatment beam to be directed from different angles onto the isocenter. The radiation therapy system also includes an X-ray imaging device with at least one X-ray source and an X-ray detector. The X-ray source is arranged in the cantilever arm such that X-radiation may be directed in a direction of the therapeutic treatment beam. A first end of a first telescopic arm is arranged rotatably on the cantilever arm. At a second end of the first telescopic arm, the X-ray detector is arranged such that a diagnostic X-ray image of the object (e.g., a patient) may be produced. The advantage of this is that, after taking one or more X-ray images, due to the variability of the telescopic arm length, the first telescopic arm with the X-ray detector moves away from the imaging position and is, for example, put into a park position. The patient being examined is freely accessible to the medical assistant personnel.
In another embodiment, a radiation therapy system includes a radiation therapy module with a cantilever arm, from which a therapeutic treatment beam may be directed onto an object to be irradiated. The cantilever arm is secured on a kinematic control such that the cantilever arm may be rotated about an isocenter, thus enabling the therapeutic treatment beam to be directed from different angles onto the isocenter. The radiation therapy system also includes an X-ray imaging device with an X-ray source and an X-ray detector. The X-ray detector is arranged movably on the cantilever arm and may be swung into an outlet area of the therapeutic treatment beam. A first end of a first telescopic arm is arranged rotatably on the cantilever arm. At a second end of the first telescopic arm, the X-ray source is arranged such that a diagnostic X-ray image of the object (e.g., a patient) may be produced when the X-ray detector is swung into the outlet area of the treatment beam. The first telescopic arm may advantageously also be used with known radiation therapy systems with X-ray apparatuses with inverse-in-line imaging or inverse-in-beam imaging.
In yet another embodiment, a radiation therapy system includes a radiation therapy module with a cantilever arm, from which a therapeutic treatment may be directed onto an object to be irradiated. The cantilever arm is secured on a kinematic control such that the cantilever arm may be rotated about an isocenter, thus enabling the therapeutic treatment beam to be directed from different angles onto the isocenter. The radiation therapy system also includes an X-ray imaging device with an X-ray source and an X-ray detector. A first telescopic arm and a second telescopic arm are arranged on a base carrier with a rotatable connecting element. The X-ray detector is arranged at an end of the first telescopic arm that faces away from the connecting element. The X-ray source is arranged at an end of the second telescopic arm that faces away from the connecting element. The X-ray detector and the X-ray source may be positioned such that a diagnostic X-ray image of the object may be produced. The advantage of this that the telescopic arms used for positioning the X-ray imaging components are not connected to the individual technical feature of the cantilever arm of the radiation therapy system.
In one embodiment, the first telescopic arm and the second telescopic arm may each include at least two arm members connected to each other by articulated joints. This allows one or more arm members to be swung.
In another embodiment, lengths of the first telescopic arm and the second telescopic arm may be variable.
In addition, the first telescopic arm may be rotatable about a first axis standing perpendicular to a first securing point of the first telescopic arm on the cantilever arm. The X-ray imaging component arranged on the first telescopic arm may be positioned such that a diagnostic X-ray image of the object may be produced.
In one embodiment, the connecting element may be rotatable about a second axis standing perpendicular to a second securing point of the connecting element on the base carrier. The X-ray imaging components arranged on the first telescopic arm and the second telescopic arm may be positioned such that a diagnostic X-ray image of the object may be produced.
In an advantageous embodiment, the base carrier may be arranged on the base and firmly connected to the base.
While the present invention has been described above by reference to various embodiments, it should be understood that many changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments. It is therefore intended that the foregoing description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that all equivalents and/or combinations of embodiments are intended to be included in this description.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE102011004224.5 | Feb 2011 | DE | national |
