Abstract: A system and method for optimizing fractionation schemes in planning radiation therapy are provided, as well as a computer program and a computer program product for carrying out the method, and an arrangement for planning radiation therapy. For optimizing the fractionation schemes, the following steps are performed. Anatomical image data of a subject to be treated is received by a biological impact calculation module as well as a predetermined radiation therapy treatment plan comprising a dose distribution to be delivered to the subject. A first set of reference parameters of a fractionation scheme is received, and also a second set of parameters of a fractionation scheme is received. Based on this, the module calculates the biological impact of the radiation therapy treatment. The calculated biological impact results are provided simultaneously for the first and the second sets of received parameters.

Abstract: The invention relates to a planning system (7) for planning a volumetric modulated arc radiation therapy procedure, wherein the volumetric modulated arc radiation therapy procedure includes rotating a radiation source (2), which is configured to emit a radiation beam (3) for treating a subject (4), along an arc around the subject, in order to apply the radiation beam to the subject in different treatment directions. A sequence of sub-arcs groups is provided, wherein a respective sub-arcs group comprises several sub-arcs of the arc, which are evenly distributed along the arc, wherein a treatment plan is generated by sequentially determining for each sub-arcs group treatment parameters, which define a property of the radiation beam, in the provided sequence. Determining the treatment parameters by using this sequence leads to an increased likelihood that really an optimal treatment plan is generated.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system for delivering a radiation treatment to a structure (21) within a body. In the system, a plurality of treatments plans is provided, each treatment plan being associated to one of a plurality of predefined possible position (33a; 33b) of the structure (21), which area regularly distributed on at least one predefined surface (32a; 32b). A control unit is configured to determine the position of the structure during the treatment and to select a treatment plan which is associated with a predefined possible position having a smallest distance to the determined position, for controlling the radiation source in response to the detection of the position. Moreover, the invention relates to a computer program for controlling the system and to a planning unit for generating the treatment plans.

Abstract: A patch pocket folding apparatus (1) comprises: a template (2), moving means (3) of the template (2), a folding body (4), against which the template (2) pushes a fabric (T), folding blades (5), a folding unit (G) disposed under the folding body (4); the folding unit (G) is composed of a set of strips (6) made of an easily workable rigid material that are fixed under the folding body (4) and define an internal corresponding border having the same profile as the external border of the template (2).

Abstract: In planning of radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body, a first treatment plan is generated on the basis of a planning image of the body region and on the basis of dose objectives. A further image of the body region of the patient body is received, and a transformation is determined for generating an adapted treatment plan from the first treatment plan and/or for generating an adapted dose distribution from the dose distribution corresponding to the first treatment plan on the basis of the further image and determines an adapted treatment plan on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution. The transformation on the basis of the dose objectives. In adapting the dose distribution, an efficient iterative dosimetric patient setup optimization may be employed to reduce the dose computations.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system for generating a radiotherapy treatment plan (33; 34) for treating a target structure within a patient body. The system comprises (i) a modeling unit configured to determine a series of estimates (31a-d; 32a-d) of a delineation of the target structure for consecutive points of time during the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of a model quantifying changes of the delineation with time, and (ii) a planning unit configured to determine the treatment plan (33; 34) on the basis of the series of estimates (31a-d; 32a-d) of the delineation of the target structure. Further, the invention relates to method carried out in the system.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system and a method for assisting in planning a radiation therapy treatment, the treatment being delivered on the basis of a treatment plan including error-prone parameter values of first treatment parameters. In the system, a robustness evaluation unit (10) obtains planned parameter values of the first treatment parameters, generates perturbed parameter configurations including perturbed values of the first treatment parameters, the perturbed parameter values deviating from the planned parameter values by possible error values of the first treatment parameters occurring during the treatment, and estimates for each perturbed parameter configuration a radiation dose distribution resulting from a treatment delivered on the basis of the perturbed parameter configuration and/or determines the treatment plan on the basis of the perturbed parameter configurations.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system and a method for evaluating a treatment plan for an external radiation therapy treatment, the treatment plan comprising parameters for controlling an external radiation therapy apparatus during the treatment. The system comprises a database storing historic treatment plans and storing for each historic treatment plan a quality parameter indicative of whether a deviation between a planned dose distribution and a measured dose distribution resulting from an execution of the treatment plan is within an acceptable limit. An evaluation unit determines a threshold value for each of a plurality of treatment plan metrics based on the historic treatment plans and the associated quality parameters. Further, the evaluation unit calculates a value of each of the metrics for the treatment plan and compares the value of each of the metrics with the threshold value determined for the respective metric.

Abstract: The invention relates to system and a method for adapting a radiotherapy treatment plan for treating a target structure within a target region of a patient body, where a planning unit (7) adapts the treatment plan on the basis of a set of influence parameters quantifying an influence of the radiation on the target region per unity intensity emission in accordance with an anatomical configuration of the target region. In a storage (8), a plurality of sets of influence parameters is stored, each set being associated with an image of the body region representing a particular anatomical configuration of the target region and the planning unit (7) is configured to select the set of influence parameters from the stored sets on the basis of a comparison between a captured image of the body region and at least one of the images associated with the sets of influence parameters.

Abstract: A system (10) includes a computing system (124) with a processor (130) and computer readable storage medium (126) with computer readable and executable instructions (128), including a radiation plan module (136), a radiation plan optimization module (138) and a radiation plan visualization module (140). The processor is configured to execute the instructions, which causes the processor to construct and visually present, via a display monitor (132), a two-dimensional plot with three-dimensions of data from a radiation plan, and two dimensions along two axes of the plot and a third dimension represented through intensity.

Abstract: A radiation planning system includes a predictor-corrector optimizer unit which computes a predicted dose based on a collection of control points with a current approximate dose, each control point with a corresponding set of leaf positions, and determines an additional control point with a corresponding set of leaf positions based on a difference of the predicted fluence and the current approximate fluence through a least cost or shortest path in a layered graph structure of realizable leaf positions. Tools are described to help a planner to evaluate the effect of parameter changes to the current plan based on an identified zone of influence. The planner interactively views the current plan based on a visualization of the plan objectives and correlations between the objectives.

Abstract: Method and apparatus (DMS) manage dosage in radiation therapy planning and/or delivery. Images of a region of interest ROI are acquired at different times. A registration transformation is computed that deforms one of the two images into the other. A magnitude of the transformation is then computed based on a suitable metric. If the computed magnitude is found to comply with a pre-defined criterion, the transformation is used to deform a dose distribution map and compute, based on the deformed dose map, therefrom a new fluence map.

Abstract: An efficient direct parameter optimization (DPO) approach is provided, in which a dosimetry gradient-based iterative greedy technique is applied to determine positioning assistance information for catheter insertion in focal radiation therapy, by toggling between optimization of candidate catheter positions and candidate radiation source dwelling times. In the specific case of free hand delivered catheters, the insertion point may be directly selected by the human expert. Using monitoring of the catheter position by additional imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound imaging, the method enables real-time orientation guidance and adaptive dose correction in the course of treatment delivery.

Abstract: The invention relates to a dynamic sliding-window-like initialization for, for example, iterative VMAT algorithms. Specifically, a dynamic sliding window conversion method is contemplated where typical dynamic VMAT constraints are taken into account to find an optimal set of suitable openings (i.e. binary masks) that can be used as quasi-feasible start initialization for any VMAT algorithm that can refine until a deliverable plan is reached. Here, a multileaf leaf tip trajectory least square constrained optimization is performed to find a set of optimal unidirectional trajectories for all MLC leaf pairs of all arc points. To ensure that a quasi-feasible (or better quasi-deliverable) solution is returned, for example, a maximum dose rate, a maximum gantry speed, a maximum leafs speed, and a maximum treatment time may be enforced.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a radiotherapy planning system (100) for determining a solution (101) corresponding to a fluence profile. The invention proposes to use a Pareto frontier navigator (140) to select the best plan from a set of various auto-planned solutions. An interactive graphical user interface (400) is provided to the planner to navigate among convex combinations of auto-planned solutions. This proposed Pareto plan navigation can be considered as a further optional refinement process, which can be applied to find the best plan in those cases where auto-generated solutions are not fully satisfying the planner's requirements. The navigation tool (400) moves locally through a set of auto-generated plans and can potentially simplify the planner's decision making process and reduce the whole planning time on complex clinical cases from several hours to minutes.

Abstract: The invention relates to the generating of a treatment plan for an ablation therapy treatment of a target structure. In accordance with the invention, (i) a dose distribution in the treatment region is visualized to a user, the dose distribution corresponding to a first treatment plan generated on the basis of first objectives and/or constraints, (ii) a first user input specifying a dose value within the dose distribution and a second user input specifying at least one position (42) in the treatment region as a target position for the dose value are received, (iii) second objectives and/or constraints on the basis of the first objectives and/or constraints and the first and second user inputs are determined and (iv) a second treatment plan on the basis of the second objectives.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system and a method for evaluating a treatment plan for an external radiation therapy treatment, the treatment plan comprising parameters for controlling an external radiation therapy apparatus during the treatment. The system comprises a database storing historic treatment plans and storing for each historic treatment plan a quality parameter indicative of whether a deviation between a planned dose distribution and a measured dose distribution resulting from an execution of the treatment plan is within an acceptable limit. An evaluation unit determines a threshold value for each of a plurality of treatment plan metrics based on the historic treatment plans and the associated quality parameters. Further, the evaluation unit calculates a value of each of the metrics for the treatment plan and compares the value of each of the metrics with the threshold value determined for the respective metric.

Abstract: The invention relates to system and a method for adapting a radiotherapy treatment plan for treating a target structure within a target region of a patient body, where a planning unit (7) adapts the treatment plan on the basis of a set of influence parameters quantifying an influence of the radiation on the target region per unity intensity emission in accordance with an anatomical configuration of the target region. In a storage (8), a plurality of sets of influence parameters is stored, each set being associated with an image of the body region representing a particular anatomical configuration of the target region and the planning unit (7) is configured to select the set of influence parameters from the stored sets on the basis of a comparison between a captured image of the body region and at least one of the images associated with the sets of influence parameters.

Abstract: In planning of radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body, a first treatment plan is generated on the basis of a planning image of the body region and on the basis of dose objectives. A further image of the body region of the patient body is received, and a transformation is determined for generating an adapted treatment plan from the first treatment plan and/or for generating an adapted dose distribution from the dose distribution corresponding to the first treatment plan on the basis of the further image and determines an adapted treatment plan on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution. The transformation on the basis of the dose objectives. In adapting the dose distribution, an efficient iterative dosimetric patient setup optimization may be employed to reduce the dose computations.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system for generating a radiotherapy treatment plan (33; 34) for treating a target structure within a patient body. The system comprises (i) a modeling unit configured to determine a series of estimates (31a-d; 32a-d) of a delineation of the target structure for consecutive points of time during the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of a model quantifying changes of the delineation with time, and (ii) a planning unit configured to determine the treatment plan (33; 34) on the basis of the series of estimates (31a-d; 32a-d) of the delineation of the target structure. Further, the invention relates to method carried out in the system.