Claims
- 1. A system for three-dimensional imaging and treatment of the body of a patient, comprising:
- means for developing a therapy plan for treatment of an organ of the patient;
- means for holding radioactive seeds and inserting the seeds into position in the patient;
- an optical sensor positioned to monitor loading of the seeds in accordance with the therapy plan;
- means for providing image data from a treatment region of the patient's body;
- means for providing a translucent volume image of a portion of a patient's body and a separate translucent image of the organ of the patient; and
- means for illustrating via a translucent image of the means for holding the seeds for placement of the seeds in conjunction with the organ of the patient, thereby enabling three dimensional viewing of said seeds, means for holding the seeds and simultaneously the organ of the patient and the portion of the patient's body.
- 2. An apparatus for preparing radiation therapy components for treatment of the body of a patient, comprising:
- at least one insertion device for holding radioactive seeds, said insertion device for passage into the patient and positioning said seeds for radiation treatment; and
- an optical sensor positioned to monitor loading of each of said radioactive seeds into said insertion device.
- 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said insertion device further holds at least one spacer between said radioactive seeds.
- 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 further including a microprocessor coupled to said optical sensor and programmed to monitor input of at least one spacer and said radioactive seeds.
- 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 further including a bin for holding said radioactive seeds and a bin for holding a plurality of said spacers.
- 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 further including at least two bins for holding radioactive seeds of different radioactivity levels.
- 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 further including a device to determine whether said insertion device is engaged both to said bin for input of said seeds and to said bin for input of said spacers.
- 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 further including a programmed microprocessor coupled to a device for automatically loading said seeds and said spacers into said insertion device.
- 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 further including a monitor for displaying to an operator an identifier of each said insertion device and status of loading said seeds and said spacers in said insertion device.
- 10. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said microprocessor comprises at least two independent microprocessors for checking operational status of another of said microprocessors.
- 11. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 further including a system computer having dose plan information which can be downloaded into said programmed microprocessor for automatically loading said seeds and said spacers into said insertion device.
- 12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11 further including a storage system for a plurality of said insertion device and said storage system coupled to said microprocessor for automated positioning of a plurality of said insertion device for loading with said seeds and said spacers in response to said dose plan information.
- 13. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said radioactive seeds comprise a source of at least one selectable level of radioactivity.
- 14. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said optical sensor comprises at least two optical sensing devices.
- 15. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein at least two optical sensing devices are redundantly disposed along one entry passageway.
- 16. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 further including a microprocessor coupled to said optical sensor and programmed to monitor input of said radioactive seeds.
- 17. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 further including a radiation sensor disposed to monitor radioactivity level of said radioactive seeds being input into said insertion device.
- 18. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 further including means for implanting said at least one insertion device in the body of the patient.
- 19. The apparatus as defined in claim 18 further including means for displaying at least a two-dimensional image of at least one said insertion device and said radioactive seeds when disposed in the patient.
- 20. The apparatus as defined in claim 19 wherein different transparent colors can be assigned to said insertion device, said radioactive seeds and portions of the patient's body.
- 21. The apparatus as defined in claim 18 wherein said means for implanting includes a holder positioned adjacent the patient, said holder including a template having openings for receiving said insertion device.
- 22. The apparatus as defined in claim 21 wherein said template comprises a disposable material for a single use.
- 23. The apparatus as defined in claim 18 further including means for performing tissue ablation of the body of the patient.
- 24. The apparatus as defined in claim 18 further including an ultrasound imaging system for displaying said radioactive seeds, said imaging system coupled to a computer programmed to detect an image of said seeds using a threshold ultrasound signal analysis program.
- 25. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said insertion device is selected from the group of an insertion device and a catheter.
- 26. A method for radiation treatment of the body of a patient, comprising the steps of:
- positioning a holder adjacent the body of a patient;
- passing at least one insertion device through openings in said holder and into the body of the patient; and
- inputting radioactive seeds and spacers into said insertion device responsive to a preplanned therapeutic radiation plan and in accordance with programmed computer controls, the step of inputting said seeds and spacers including selecting a particular number of radioactive seeds of selected radiation strength interspersed with said spacers to achieve a calculated radiation dose level at selected portions in the body of the patient.
- 27. The method as defined in claim 26 further including the planning step of providing a system to allow stepwise movement of an ultrasound probe for determining structure of the selected portion of the patient before implanting said insertion device in the patient.
- 28. The method as defined in claim 26 further including the step of generating three-dimensional images of said insertion device, said seeds and the selected portions of the body of the patient.
- 29. The method as defined in claim 28 wherein a different transparent color is assigned to said insertion device, said seeds and the selected portions.
- 30. The method as defined in claim 26 wherein said insertion device is inserted into the holder in a location in accordance with the radiation plan.
- 31. The method as defined in claim 26 wherein said holder includes a disposable material for a single use.
Parent Case Info
This invention is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/977,362, filed on Nov. 24, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5526812 |
Dumoulin et al. |
Jun 1996 |
|
5871448 |
Ellard |
Feb 1999 |
|
5931786 |
Whitmore et al. |
Aug 1999 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
977362 |
Nov 1997 |
|