Patent Application
20170239494
Radiation therapy involves delivering tumoricidal doses of radiation to localized regions of the body. Stereotactic radiation therapy, also called radiosurgery, may be used to treat tumors in the brain, breast, head, neck, lung, liver, pancreas, spine, and prostate. Various tumor localization techniques may be used to precisely determine the location of tumor(s) to help ensure that a high dose of radiation is delivered to the tumor(s), while sparing healthy, non-cancerous tissue. For example, on-board imaging technologies such as single and stereoscopic x-ray imaging, kilovoltage and megavoltage CT imaging, implantable fiducial markers and transponders, ultrasound imaging. MRI, and others may help to improve the efficacy of radiation therapy by gathering tumor location information such that a radiation beam may be specifically targeted at the tumor region. Various radiation beam-shaping techniques may also be used to help direct radiation precisely at the tumor(s) to be treated, while reducing the radiation exposure to surrounding tissue.
Described herein are systems and methods for positioning a radiation source with respect to one or more regions of interest in a coordinate system. In some variations, such systems and methods may be used for emission guided radiation therapy (EGRT) for the localized delivery of radiation to one or more patient tumor regions. EGRT systems may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, where one or more positron emission detectors and radiation sources are arranged movably on the gantry. The EGRT system may comprise a controller configured to identify a coincident positron annihilation emission path and to direct the radiation source to apply a radiation beam along the identified emission path. Various methods may be used with an EGRT system to regulate the radiation beam that is applied to the target region(s) such that radiation is delivered to the target region(s) while reducing or avoiding the delivery of radiation to other tissue regions. The EGRT systems and methods described herein may be used alone or in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy and/or brachytherapy for the treatment of tumors.
One example of an EGRT system described herein may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, one or more positron emission detectors, one or more therapeutic radiation sources, a motion system, and a microprocessor. Some variations of EGRT systems may comprise one or more single-photon emission detectors. The therapeutic radiation sources may be one or more radioactive materials, x-ray source(s), or particle beam source(s). The positron emission detectors and the therapeutic radiation sources may be positioned at various locations around the gantry for the detection of coincident positron annihilation emission paths that intersect with a target region and the application of radiation beams to deliver a prescribed radiation dose to the target region. The radiation beams may be applied along the emission paths and/or at a target location determined based on the detected emissions. The movable gantry may adjust the position of the positron emission detectors and/or therapeutic radiation sources such that various regions of tissue may be treated within the patient area.
The methods described herein may be used with an EGRT system to regulate the radiation beam that is applied to the target region(s) in order to deliver radiation to the target region(s) while reducing or avoiding the delivery of radiation to other tissue regions. For example, EGRT methods may be used to deliver a prescribed dose of radiation to a target volume while avoiding the delivery of radiation to radiation-sensitive structures, compensate for PET signal and/or radiation beam attenuation, collect real-time tumor location data, and perform other functions to help ensure that a tumorcidal level of radiation is delivered to the target volume while preserving surrounding tissue. The EGRT systems and methods described herein may be used alone or in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy, radiosensitizers, and/or brachytherapy for the treatment of tumors. For example, EGRT systems and methods may be used before and/or after chemotherapy. EGRT may also be used before and/or after surgery and/or brachytherapy. Some variations of tumor treatment plans may comprise surgically removing a portion of the tumor, and treating any remaining tumor masses with chemotherapy and/or EGRT. The various therapies in a tumor treatment plan may be determined in part by the size, type, location, progression and etiology of the tumor(s), as well as a variety of patient variables (e.g., gender, age, allergies, tolerance to certain pharmacological agents, etc.).
One example of a method for emission guided radiation therapy for a target region of tissue may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects both a target tissue and a radiation-sensitive tissue to be spared using a positron emission detector, and selectively applying radiation along the emission path such that radiation applied to the target tissue is greater than radiation applied to the tissue to be spared. In some variations, applying the radiation along the emission path may comprise emitting radiation in a probabilistic manner, or emitting radiation that has been intensity-modulated in a probabilistic manner.
Another example of an EGRT method for applying radiation to a targeted region of tissue may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects a target tissue region using a positron emission detector, determining whether the emission path intersects an organ structure, positioning a radiation source to apply radiation along the emission path, and applying radiation along the emission path, where the radiation has been modified by a probabilistic coefficient. In some variations, applying radiation may comprise applying radiation where the intensity of the radiation has been scaled by the probabilistic coefficient.
Another method for EGRT of a target region of tissue may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects a target region of tissue, where the emission path is substantially perpendicular to a pre-determined margin of extension from the target tissue, and applying a radiation beam to the target tissue along the emission path using a radiation source, where a width of the radiation beam may correspond to a width of the margin of extension. In some variations, the target tissue is a PET-avid tissue and the margin of extension may comprise tissue adjacent to the PET-avid tissue.
Another method for EGRT of a target region of tissue may comprise detecting boundaries of a PET-avid region of tissue using a positron emission detector, defining an extension region beyond the boundaries of the PET-avid region, detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects with a selected region of tissue, where the detected emission path may be substantially perpendicular to an axis of the extension region, and applying a radiation beam along the detected emission path that may have a width that corresponds to a width of the extension region. In some variations, the positron emission detector may be configured to determine the boundaries of the PET-avid region of tissue region based on the detected positron annihilation emission paths.
Another method for EGRT of a target region of tissue may comprise detecting boundaries of a PET-avid region of tissue using a positron emission detector that is configured to determine the boundaries of the PET-avid region of tissue, defining an extension region beyond the boundaries of the PET-avid region, detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects with a selected region of tissue, where the detected emission path may be substantially perpendicular to an axis of the extension region, and applying a radiation beam along the detected emission path that has a width that may correspond to a width of the extension region. In some variations, defining an extension region may comprise using an image obtained by one or more of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, PET, or any other suitable imaging modality.
Another example of a method for EGRT of a target region of tissue may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path using a positron emission detector, where the emission path may intersect a first PET-avid region of tissue to be spared and a second PET-avid region of tissue to be treated, positioning a radiation source at a location from which the radiation source may be capable of applying radiation along the emission path, and applying radiation along the emission path, where the radiation may be adjusted according to a modulation factor that is inversely proportional to a projection of the first PET-avid region of tissue on the location of the radiation source. In some variations, applying radiation may comprise applying radiation beams with a time duration that is modified by the modulation factor. Alternatively or additionally, applying radiation may comprise applying radiation with an intensity that is modified by the modulation factor. In other variations, the second PET-avid region of tissue may intersect with a target region of tissue, and the first region of tissue may not intersect with the target region of tissue.
Yet another method for EGRT of a target region of tissue may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path using a positron emission detector, where the emission path intersects a targeted region of tissue, and applying radiation along the emission path using a radiation source, where the radiation applied may be adjusted according to the total attenuation of the detected positron annihilation emission along the complete emission path as may be determined by an alternate imaging modality. In some variations, the applied radiation may be adjusted according to the attenuation of the therapeutic radiation along the positron annihilation emission path. For example, the applied radiation may be directly proportional or inversely proportional to the attenuation of the detected positron annihilation emission. Examples of alternate imaging modalities may include computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray, and/or any suitable imaging modality.
Another example of a method for EGRT may comprise detecting a single positron annihilation emission path using a positron emission detector, where the emission path intersects a target region of tissue, computing an attenuation factor of the emission path using an image of the target region of tissue acquired by a selected imaging modality, and applying radiation along the emission path, where the radiation is modulated by the attenuation factor. In some variations, the radiation may be adjusted to compensate for the attenuation of the radiation along the positron annihilation emission path. The applied radiation may be proportional or inversely proportional to the attenuation of the detected positron annihilation emission. In some variations, the selected imaging modality may be computed tomography. In some variations, the intensity of the radiation may be modulated proportionally or inversely proportionally to the attenuation factor. Additionally or alternatively, the applied radiation may have a time duration that may be modulated proportionally or inversely proportionally to the attenuation factor. For example, the radiation applied along the emission path may have a frequency that may be modulated inversely proportionally to the attenuation factor.
One variation of a system for EGRT may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, where the gantry comprises a rotatable inner gantry and a rotatable outer gantry, a plurality of positron emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry configured to detect a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths within the patient area, and a radiation source arranged movably along on the outer gantry, wherein the radiation source is configured to apply radiation along each of the plurality of positron annihilation emission paths within the patient area. In some EGRT systems, the inner gantry may be capable of rotating at a higher rate than the outer gantry. In some variations, the system may comprise a sense mode where the plurality of positron emission detectors obstructs the radiation source, and a firing mode where the radiation source is unobstructed and is able to apply radiation to the patient area. Alternatively or additionally, the EGRT system may comprise one or more single photon emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry. In some variations, the radiation source may also comprise a collimator.
An example of a method for emission guided radiation therapy may comprise detecting a positron annihilation emission path that intersects with a plurality of target tissue regions using a plurality of positron emission detectors, positioning a radiation source to apply radiation along each of the plurality of emission paths, and applying radiation along each of the emission paths to deliver radiation to the plurality of target tissue regions.
Another example of a system for EGRT may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, where the gantry comprises a rotatable inner gantry and a rotatable outer gantry, a plurality of positron emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry configured to detect a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths from a plurality of moving PET-avid regions within the patient area, and a radiation source arranged movably along on the outer gantry, where the radiation source may be configured to apply radiation to each of the plurality of PET-avid regions within the patient area. In some EGRT systems, the inner gantry may be capable of rotating at a higher rate than the outer gantry. In some variations, the EGRT system may comprise a sense mode where the plurality of positron emission detectors obstructs the radiation source, and a firing mode where the radiation source is unobstructed and is able to apply radiation to the patient area. Alternatively or additionally, the EGRT system may comprise one or more single photon emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry. In some variations, the radiation source may also comprise a collimator.
An example of a method for EGRT may comprise detecting a positron annihilation emission path that intersects with a plurality of moving target tissue regions using a plurality of positron emission detectors, positioning a radiation source to apply radiation along the emission path, and applying radiation to the plurality of moving target tissue regions along a path derived from shifting the detected emission path according to the movement of the target tissue regions.
Also described herein are systems that may be used for positioning a radiation source (such as a radiation source that may be used in a system for EGRT). One variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect a positron emission path originating from a first region of interest within a coordinate system and the controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to position the radiation source along the emission path. The radiation source may be configured (e.g., by a program stored in memory and/or one or more signals from the controller) to generate radiation according to a selected probabilistic coefficient. In some variations, the controller may be configured to determine whether the emission path intersects a second region of interest within the coordinate system, and the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation along the emission path according to the selected probabilistic coefficient if the emission path intersects the second region of interest. Alternatively or additionally, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation along the emission path if the emission path intersects the second region of interest and the selected probabilistic coefficient is below a pre-programmed probability threshold. In some variations, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation that has been intensity-modulated in a probabilistic manner along the emission path, and/or may be configured to generate radiation that has been scaled by the probabilistic coefficient.
Another variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect multiple positron emission paths originating from a plurality of regions of interest within a coordinate system and the controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to position the radiation source along the multiple emission paths.
Another variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect a positron emission path that intersects a plurality of moving regions of interest within a coordinate system and the controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to position the radiation source along a path derived by shifting the detected emission path according to the movement of the regions of interest.
One variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured detect to a positron emission path that intersects a region of interest within a coordinate system, where the emission path may be substantially perpendicular to a pre-determined direction of margin of extension from the region of interest. The controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to position the radiation source along the emission path, and the radiation source may be configured (e.g., by a program stored in memory and/or one or more signals from the controller) to generate a radiation beam with a width that corresponds to a width of the margin of extension. In some variations, the region of interest may be PET-avid and the margin of extension may comprise a region adjacent to the PET-avid region of interest.
One variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect boundaries of a PET-avid region of interest within a coordinate system and to detect a single coincident positron annihilation emission path that intersects with a second region of interest within the coordinate system. The controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to define an extension region beyond the boundaries of the PET-avid region of interest and to determine whether the detected emission path is substantially perpendicular to an axis of the extension region, and to position the radiation source along the emission path. The radiation source may be configured (e.g., by a program stored in memory and/or one or more signals from the controller) to generate a radiation beam with a width that corresponds to a width of the extension region. In some examples, the controller may be configured to define an extension region by using an image obtained by computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging.
Another variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect a single positron annihilation emission path that intersects a region of interest within a coordinate system. The controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to compute an attenuation factor of the emission path using an image of the region of interest acquired by a selected imaging modality, and to position the radiation source along the emission path. The radiation source may be configured (e.g., by a program stored in memory and/or one or more signals from the controller) to generate radiation that is modulated by the attenuation factor. The selected imaging modality may be computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging. In some examples, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation that is adjusted to compensate for attenuation of the radiation along the positron annihilation emission path. Alternatively or additionally, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation that is proportional to the attenuation of the detected positron annihilation emission path. In other examples, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation that is inversely proportional to the attenuation of the detected positron annihilation emission path. Alternatively or additionally, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation having an intensity that is modulated proportionally to the attenuation factor, and/or radiation with a time duration that is modulated proportionally to the attenuation factor, and/or radiation with an intensity that is modulated inversely proportionally to the attenuation factor, and/or radiation with a frequency that is modulated inversely proportionally to the attenuation factor.
Another variation of a system for positioning a radiation source may comprise a circular gantry, a radiation source mounted on the gantry, positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry, and a controller in communication with the radiation source and the positron emission detectors. The positron emission detectors may be configured to detect a single positron annihilation emission path that intersects a first PET-avid region of interest and a second PET-avid region of interest within a coordinate system. The controller may be configured (e.g., by programming an algorithm that is stored in memory) to position the radiation source to a location along the emission path, and the radiation source may be configured (e.g., by a program stored in memory and/or one or more signals from the controller) to generate radiation that is adjusted according to a modulation factor that is inversely proportional to a projection of the first PET-avid region of interest on the location of the radiation source. In some variations, the radiation source may be configured to generate a radiation beam with a time duration that is modified by the modulation factor. Alternatively or additionally, the radiation source may be configured to generate radiation with an intensity that is modified by the modulation factor. In some examples, the second PET-avid region of interest may intersect with a third region of interest, and the first region of interest may not intersect with the third region of interest.
One variation of a system for emission guided radiation therapy may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, a plurality of positron emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry configured to detect a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths within the patient area, and a radiation source arranged movably along the outer gantry. The gantry may comprise a rotatable inner gantry and a rotatable outer gantry, and the radiation source may be arranged movably along the outer gantry. The radiation source may be configured to apply radiation along the plurality of positron annihilation emission paths within the patient area, and the inner gantry may be capable of rotating at a higher rate than the outer gantry. Optionally, the system may further comprise single-photon emission detectors arranged movably along the inner gantry. In some variations, the radiation source may comprise a collimator. Such a system may optionally comprise a sense mode where the plurality of positron emission detectors obstructs the radiation source, and a firing mode where the radiation source is unobstructed and is able to apply radiation to the patient area.
Described herein are systems and methods for positioning a radiation source with respect to one or more regions of interest in a coordinate system. In some variations, such systems and methods may be used for emission guided radiation therapy for the delivery of radiation along emission paths of photons from positron annihilation events. The systems and methods described here may be used to deliver an elevated dose of radiation to a first region of interest (e.g., tumors), while delivering little, if any, radiation to a second region of interest (e.g., peripheral tissues). The systems and methods described below may be able to precisely locate a targeted tumor region so that an elevated level of radiation may be applied to the tumor(s) while preserving the tissue around the tumor(s). These systems and methods may help to provide accurate tumor localization, and may be used to deliver radiation beams to the target tumor region in real-time (e.g., within seconds after a positron annihilation emission path has been detected). These systems and methods may handle and manage uncertainties originating from multiple processes such as tumor volume delineation, patient setup and physiologic motion in order to provide useful radiation treatment. The systems and methods described herein may help improve radiation treatment efficiency, patient comfort, and/or cost effectiveness. While the variations and examples described below refer to EGRT systems, it should be understood that these are merely examples of systems that may be used to position a radiation source with respect to one or more regions of interest in a coordinate system. Regions of interest within a coordinate system may include, but are not limited to, tumor tissue, non-tumor tissue, radiation-sensitive organs or structures, any anatomical structures, any regions or volumes that emit positrons (e.g., PET-avid regions), any regions that do not emit positrons (e.g., non-PET-avid regions), regions or volumes that may be defined with respect to a PET-avid region, stationary regions or volumes, moving regions or volumes, any region or volume identified by a user or practitioner (e.g., a planning target volume) or a machine algorithm (e.g., an image processing algorithm) and the like.
EGRT may be used alone or in conjunction with other types of radiation therapies. For example, EGRT may be used with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and/or image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). IMRT may be capable of generating highly conformal dose distributions to deliver radiation to a targeted tumor region while sparing healthy tissues. IGRT may use imaging modalities such as MRI or CT in pre-treatment planning to locate the tumor(s) within the patient. Combining either or both of these imaging modalities with EGRT may be useful for real-time location tracking of the targeted tumor region to help ensure that the therapeutic radiation is directed to the intended tissue region.
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for EGRT using a PET tracer, where radiation may be applied along a line of response (LOR) that is aligned with a detected coincident positron annihilation emission path. Systems that may be used for EGRT may comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, one or more positron emission detectors that may be movable along the gantry, and one or more therapeutic radiation sources that may also be movable along the gantry. The one or more positron emission detectors may be capable of detecting and tracking the emission paths corresponding to a plurality of regions of interest (e.g., tumors). The one or more radiation sources may be configured to compensate for the motion of each of the plurality of tumors so that radiation may be accurately applied to the tumor(s) and not to healthy tissue. One variation of a system (130) for positioning a radiation source that may be used for emission guided radiation therapy is depicted in
The microprocessor (135) may control the rotation of the gantry to adjust the position of the radiation source (131) in response to a plurality of detected emission paths in the course of an EGRT session. The microprocessor of an EGRT system may comprise a computer readable storage medium and may be able to execute various functions in accordance with software or firmware stored in the computer readable storage medium. Examples of computer readable storage mediums can include, but are not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) (magnetic), a portable optical disc such a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, or DVD-RW, or flash memory such as compact flash cards, secured digital cards, USB memory devices, memory sticks, and the like. The software or firmware can also be propagated within any transport medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Examples of transport mediums can include, but are not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic or infrared wired or wireless propagation medium.
While the systems and methods for EGRT described herein may be configured to detect and respond to emission paths from coincident positron annihilation emission events arising from PET tracers, other types of radioactive tracers may also be used for EGRT. For example, EGRT systems and methods may additionally or alternatively be configured to detect and respond to single photon emissions arising from SPECT tracers. Other radioactive tracers that are commonly used in nuclear medicine may also be used with the EGRT systems and methods described herein. Emission rays from such radioactive tracers may serve as guidance for accurate and near real-time tumor tracking. Depending the on type of radioactive tracer that is used, EGRT systems may comprise a variety of detectors, such as positron emission detectors, single-photon emission detectors, and the like. EGRT systems may also comprise a variety of therapeutic radiation sources, including linear accelerators, radioactive materials, x-ray sources, particle beam sources, etc. In some variations, a radiation source may comprise a collimator capable of delivering radiation in response to single photon events. One example of a system that may be used for EGRT is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,356 filed on Nov. 29, 2004. Additional descriptions and examples of EGRT systems are provided below, as well as in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2009/0256078 filed on Feb. 9, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Methods for EGRT may be used to track the location of tumors in real time, and/or may be used to deliver a desired dose of radiation to tumor(s) in a planning target volume (PTV) while sparing peripheral tissue. A PTV may be determined during a pre-treatment and/or planning session by a physician and/or technician (e.g., radiation oncologist, medical physicist, radiologist, radiation therapist, etc.) using a variety of imaging modalities, such as CT, PET, MRI, x-ray, etc., either alone or in combination. A PTV may also be determined during a radiation therapy session. For example, a PTV may be determined periodically during a radiation therapy session using one or more types of on-board imaging modalities (e.g., CT, PET, MRI, X-ray, etc.), either alone or in combination. Data pertaining to a PTV may be stored in the microprocessor of an EGRT system for use by a medical physicist and/or radiation therapist during the radiation therapy session. A PTV may include the tumor region and peripheral non-tumor tissue in the region of the tumor region, or a PTV may include only the tumor region without the peripheral non-tumor tissue. Alternatively or additionally, a PTV may include the visible location and growth of a tumor as determined by a selected imaging modality (e.g., CT, PET, MRI, X-ray, SPECT, etc). In some cases, a PTV may include a PET-avid tissue region (i.e., a tissue volume that has taken up PET tracer and is emitting photons resulting from positron annihilations), and in other cases, a PTV may include both the PET-avid region and adjacent non-PET-avid tissue regions. In some variations, a PTV may include the regions described above with one or more additional margins, for example, margins for patient and/or organ motion, organ shape and size variation, and uncertainties in radiation beam alignment.
Some methods may help to compensate for tumor and/or PTV movement due to respiration or other patient movement, and/or provide for more accurate or precise tumor edge detection, and/or help to ensure that the radiation applied to a PTV is homogeneous by reducing “hot” or “cold” spots in the PTV (e.g., such that the radiation dose is uniformly delivered across the entire PTV). While various methods for EGRT are individually described below, it should be understood that one or more of the methods disclosed herein may be combined before or during an EGRT session. Optionally, one or more of these methods of EGRT may be used in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy, brachytherapy, and/or other cancer therapies in the course of the cancer treatment of a patient.
One variation of a method for EGRT may deliver a reduced quantity of radiation to radiation-sensitive structures while delivering a prescribed dose of radiation to a tumor located in a PTV. Certain variations of such methods may avoid delivering any radiation to a selected tissue region or any radiation-sensitive structures. A radiation-sensitive structure may be, for example, an organ that is particularly prone to radiation damage. Radiation-sensitive structures may include the heart, esophagus, rectum, stomach, upper and lower intestines, breast, salivary glands organs involved in gametogenesis, the spinal cord and other neural tissue, etc. In some variations of EGRT, radiation-sensitive structures may optionally be treated with a radioprotector (e.g., amifostine), which may help these radiation-sensitive structures self-repair any radiation damage. One variation of a method that delivers a reduced quantity of radiation to radiation-sensitive structures may comprise delivering radiation less frequently along coincident positron annihilation emission paths or LOR that intersect with the radiation-sensitive structures.
One example of a method (110) of delivering a reduced quantity of radiation to radiation-sensitive structures while delivering a prescribed dose of radiation to a PTV is diagrammatically represented in
In other variations of EGRT methods, the radiation source may adjust the properties of the radiation beam delivered to the PTV to deliver radiation to non-PET-avid tissue within the PTV. For example, the width of the radiation beam may be expanded to deliver radiation to non-PET-avid tissue within the PTV, and/or multiple radiation beams may be applied over time at non-PET-avid locations within the PTV. One example of such a method is conceptually depicted in
One example of a method that applies radiation to tissue adjacent to the boundaries of a PET-avid volume within a PTV is depicted in
Some variations of EGRT methods may distinguish between coincident positron annihilation emission paths that originate from a planning target volume and emission paths that originate outside of the planning target volume. Positron annihilation events may take place outside of a PTV, and increased uptake of certain PET-tracers such as FDG may occur, for instance, in the heart, brain, areas of inflammation, infected areas of the lung, or other anatomical regions. For example, the PET tracer may be taken up by tissues in a plurality of locations, and EGRT may be planned for only a subset of those locations (i.e., some PET-avid tissues may be suitable targets for radiation while other PET-avid tissues may not).
One example of a method (310) of avoiding the creation of localized regions of high radiation is diagrammatically represented in
Some methods for EGRT may compensate for any attenuation of LOR signal strength that may occur due to density variations within the subject.
One example of a method (410) of correcting or compensating for LOR signal attenuation so that a sufficient quantity of radiation is applied to the PTV is diagrammatically represented in
One variation of a method that may be used with an EGRT system may be used for delivering radiation to a plurality of planning target volumes. The method may comprise detecting positron emission activity from multiple planning target volumes, and then applying one or more radiation beams along each detected LOR that intersects at least one of the planning target volumes. The EGRT system and this method may be able to compensate for any movement of each of the planning target volumes, regardless of the correlation of their movement, by responding to the LOR in near real-time (e.g., within seconds after a LOR has been detected). For example, a radiation beam may be applied along a detected LOR in less than 5 s, 4 s, 3 s, 2 s, 1 s, or 0.5 s, after the LOR has been detected.
One example of a method (1420) for delivering radiation to a plurality of planning target volumes is diagrammatically represented in
Some variations of EGRT methods may be used to help the therapeutic radiation source to precisely direct radiation beams towards the PTV. One example of such a method is conceptually depicted in
One example of a method (510) of precisely directing a radiation beam at a particular location in a PTV is diagrammatically represented in
Other variations of EGRT methods may comprise delivering radiation in response to a single LOR from multiple locations and/or at multiple points in time. As an example, a radiation beam may be delivered along a LOR from either end of the LOR, or at different times from the same LOR endpoint.
One example of a method (620) of precisely directing a radiation beam at a particular location in a PTV is diagrammatically represented in
Another variation of a method may combine intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and EGRT to deliver radiation treatment to a planning target volume. A hybrid IMRT-EGRT method may be useful if the coincident positron annihilation emission signal is low, or if shorter treatment time is desired. In some variations, IMRT and EGRT may have separate pre-treatment plans, and during the radiation therapy, IMRT may be used to deliver radiation beams for one portion of the session, while EGRT may be used to deliver radiation beams for another portion of the session. For example, the radiation beam may be applied using IMRT first and EGRT second (or vice versa) for each position of the radiation source along the gantry. Some methods may alternate between IMRT and EGRT for one or more radiation source positions during the radiation therapy session.
One example of a hybrid IMRT-EGRT method (700) is diagrammatically represented in
In another variation of a method for EGRT, the method may comprise steps that update the location and/or orientation of the PTV during the treatment session. For example, the centroid of the PTV may be redefined to account for any tumor movement that may occur during the treatment (e.g., due to a change in the patient's breathing pattern, organ deformation, peristalsis, or a shift in the patient's position, etc.).
One example of an EGRT method (810) that periodically updates the position of the PTV is depicted in
Some variations of EGRT methods may be used to reduce or avoid the peaking of a radiation dose that may occur in the center of an otherwise uniformly PET-avid volume (i.e., “backprojection effect”). This effect may occur because LOR that intersect the volume near the center of the PET-avid volume may be detected more frequently than those that intersect towards the edge of the volume. An EGRT method may use a filtered-backprojection technique to reduce or eliminate radiation peaks in a PET-avid region.
One example of an EGRT method (910) that may be used to apply radiation that reduces or eliminates radiation peaks in a PET-avid region is depicted in
Another method that may be used in EGRT may deliver a radiation dose that is proportional to the real-time or near real-time measured intensity of the positron emitting distribution or a photon emitting distribution across the patient volume to be treated. Such a method may be used with an EGRT system having positron emission and/or single-photon emission detectors to detect emission paths, and a radiation source with a collimator to shape the radiation beam applied to the PTV. The distribution of coincident positron annihilation emission and/or SPECT signals may be correlated with areas of hypoxia, increased cellular proliferation, or other biological or functional aspects of a patient volume to be treated. For example, as depicted in
One example of an EGRT method (1110) that delivers radiation to the PTV that is proportional to the SPECT and/or coincident positron annihilation emission signal(s) from the PTV is depicted in
The method depicted in
In some circumstances, the PTV may have a lower LOR signal than the tissue immediately surrounding it. In such conditions, radiation beam may instead be directed to a “cold spot,” which may be a region of tissue that have a lower number of detected LOR than the average rate for the surrounding tissue. A “cold spot” may be detected from a previous PET scan or by reconstructing an image using PET data accumulated over certain time intervals, (e.g., 0.5 s, 1 s, 5 s, 20 s, 30 s, 90 s before applying the radiation beam) and using the reconstructed image to determine the “cold spot” region.
One example of a method that may be used with an EGRT system to apply radiation to a region of tissue with low LOR activity is represented in
Optionally, any of the methods above may use multiple radioactive tracers at once, such as PET or SPECT radiotracers. For example, a patient may be injected with a cocktail of FDG and FLT, or any other desired combination radioactive tracers. The EGRT system may be configured to apply a radiation beam along any detected LOR that intersects with the PTV, regardless of which type of tracer originated the decay event.
One method (1300) in which multiple PET tracers may be used with any of the EGRT methods described herein is depicted in
Additionally, any of the methods described above may be used in combination with a fiducial marker, radiopaque marker, or any other identifier that allows the PTV to be tracked for radiation therapy. In some variations, the methods described herein may be used in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy, as may be appropriate.
Optionally, any of the methods described above may use the time-of-flight (TOF) method to evaluate whether the origin of a positron annihilation emission is within, or sufficiently close to, a planning target volume. The TOF method may be used with a PET system to help improve diagnostic PET image quality by calculating the time difference between the detection of each endpoint of a single LOR (i.e. the time difference between the detection of each of the coincident positron annihilation emission photons). Using information obtained from the TOF method, a microprocessor may estimate or computer the origin point of the positron emission along the LOR path. For example, a method with an estimation error of the origin point on the order of 5 cm may trigger the system to exclude LOR events whose calculated positron emission origin points are greater than this error (e.g. 5 cm) from the PTV boundary.
One example of the TOF method (1010) that may be used with any of the EGRT methods described above is depicted in
As indicated previously, any of the above methods may be performed using any suitable EGRT system, for example, such as the EGRT systems described in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2009/0256078 filed on Feb. 9, 2009, which was previously incorporated by reference in its entirety. Another variation of an EGRT system that combines PET with radiotherapy may comprise a gantry having an inner gantry and an outer gantry that are each separately rotatable. One or more positron emission detectors may be located on the inner gantry, while one or more radiation sources may be located on the outer gantry. The inner gantry may rotate at a faster rate than the outer gantry. In some variations, the inner gantry with the positron emission detectors may rotate faster than the outer gantry with the radiation source because the positron emission detectors may weigh less than the radiation source. Alternatively or additionally, the inner and outer gantries may each be supported by motor systems with different power outputs, where each of the motor systems may be independently controlled.
One example of a method that may be used with an EGRT system comprising a gantry with separately rotatable inner and outer gantries, one or more positron emission detectors along the gantry, one or more radiation sources mounted on the gantry, a motion system, and a microprocessor, is represented in
However, if in the initial state (1522), the microprocessor determines that the EGRT system is not in sense mode, or if the microprocessor may process a line of response from a queue of valid lines of response (1524). Processing a LOR may comprise detecting a single coincident positron annihilation emission path using the positron emission detectors, and may optionally comprise storing data about the LOR in a memory queue of the microprocessor. The microprocessor may then compare the location of the LOR with the location of the radiation source, e.g., by querying the radiation source, to determine whether the radiation source is generally aligned with the LOR (1526). If not, then the microprocessor may not provide an instruction to the radiation source to apply radiation along the LOR, and return to the initial state (1522). If so, then the microprocessor may provide an instruction to the radiation source to fire a radiation beam along the LOR (1528). This may be repeated until the system is returned to sense mode, or until radiation has been delivered along all the LOR stored in the memory queue.
Although the foregoing invention has, for the purpose of clarity and understanding been described in some detail by way of illustration and example, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced, and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. Each smaller range between any stated value or intervening value in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, some potential and preferred methods and materials are now described.
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a blade” includes a plurality of such blades and reference to “the energy source” includes reference to one or more sources of energy and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth.
The publications discussed herein are provided solely for their disclosure. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such publication by virtue of prior invention. Further, the dates of publication provided, if any, may be different from the actual publication dates which may need to be independently confirmed.
The preceding merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventors to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents and equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is not intended to be limited to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Rather, the scope and spirit of present invention is embodied by the appended claims. For all the embodiments described herein, the steps of the method need not be performed sequentially.
This application claims priority to U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 61/470,432, filed on Mar. 31, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61470432 | Mar 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15047552 | Feb 2016 | US |
| Child | 15499671 | US | |
| Parent | 14007312 | Mar 2014 | US |
| Child | 15047552 | US |
