PLANNING SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE RADIATION THERAPY

Abstract

The invention relates to the planning of a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body. A planning unit obtains a first treatment plan generated on the basis of a planning image of the body region and on the basis of dose objectives. Moreover, the planning unit receives a further image of the body region of the patient body, determines a transformation 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. In accordance with the invention, the transformation on the basis of the dose objectives.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to adaptive radiation therapy. More specifically, the invention is related to a system and to a method for planning a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body. Further, the invention is related to a computer program for performing the method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In external beam radiation therapy, ionizing radiation is applied to target structures, such as tumors, within patients' bodies in order to control growth of or kill cancer cells. In more advanced types of radiation therapy, precise doses of radiation are applied to regions of the patient's body. In this respect, it is typically the goal to deliver a sufficiently high radiation dose to the target structure and to spare sensitive structures, which are usually also referred to as organs at risk (OAR), in the vicinity of the target structure as far as possible.

The treatment parameters for controlling the irradiation of the patient are defined in a treatment plan, which particularly specifies the intensity and shape of the radiation beam for irradiating the patient during the treatment. The treatment plan may be determined in an inverse planning procedure on the basis of a planning image of the relevant region of the patient body. In this procedure, treatment goals may be specified which comprise requirements for the radiation dose delivered to the target structure and the OARs during the treatment. Then, an optimization process is carried out to find a treatment plan which results in a distribution of the accumulated dose delivered to the patient, which fulfills the treatment goals with respect to the anatomical structure of the relevant region of the patient body as shown in the planning image. The optimization process usually comprises an operator-guided iterative procedure, in which a planner repeatedly changes parameters until a treatment plan corresponding to an acceptable dose distribution is found and approved.

Since this planning procedure is quite complex and time-consuming it is usually carried out some time (up to several days) in advance of the treatment. However, this means that the anatomical configuration of the relevant region of the body changes between the acquisition of the planning image and the delivery of the treatment. As a result, the generated treatment plan may no longer be accurate and the shifted and/or deformed target structure may receive less radiation and the shifted and/or deformed OARs may receive more radiation than intended, when the treatment is delivered on the basis of the initial treatment plan.

Therefore, the initial treatment plan may be adapted before the delivery of the treatment on the basis of a new image of the relevant region of the patient body. This image may effectively be acquired in the treatment room and, therefore, it is also referred to as in-room image herein below. In the process of adapting the treatment plan, an adapted dose distribution may be determined in accordance with the changed patient anatomy and the treatment plan may be modified to deliver the adapted dose distribution. The adapted dose distribution is determined on the basis of a transformation of the dose distribution corresponding to the original treatment plan. In order to limit the complexity of the plan adaptation, a rigid transformation may be used in order to approximately adapt the plan to the changed anatomy.

The transformation may be determined on the basis of a comparison of the anatomical configurations of the relevant region of the patient body as shown in the planning image and in the in-room image. However, it has been found that this approach can result in a modified treatment plan which does not allow for fulfilling the treatment objectives sufficient accurately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to allow for an improved adaptation of an initial treatment plan on the basis of an in-room image such that the treatment objectives are more reliable fulfilled using the adapted treatment plan.

In accordance with a first aspect, the invention suggests a system for planning a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure, which may be a target structure of the treatment, in a region of a patient body. The system comprises a planning unit configured to (i) obtain a first treatment plan generated on the basis of a planning image of the region of the patient body and on the basis of dose objectives with respect to the region of the patient body, the first treatment plan corresponding to a first dose distribution in the region of the patient body, (ii) receive a further image of the region of the patient body, (iii) determine a transformation for generating an adapted treatment plan and/or for generating an adapted dose distribution from the first dose distribution on the basis of the further image, and (iv) determine an adapted treatment plan for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution. Further, the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation on the basis of the dose objectives.

Since the transformation is determined on the basis of the dose objectives rather than on the basis of the comparison of anatomical features shown in the planning image and the further image, the adaptation of the treatment plan can be improved and the treatment objectives can more reliable be fulfilled on the basis of the adapted treatment plan. The transformation may particularly be rigid transformation, i.e. a transformation consisting of a rotation and/or a translation. Hereby, the complexity of the adaptation procedure can be limited.

The generated transformation may be used to directly determine the adapted treatment plan from the first treatment plan. In particular, directions of the radiation beam specified in the first treatment plan may be rotated on the basis of the transformation and/or positions of the radiation source specified in the first treatment plan may be displacement on the basis of the transformation in order to determine the adapted treatment plan.

In a possible further approach, an adapted dose distribution may be determined from the first dose distribution using the transformation, and the adapted treatment plan is generated on the basis of the adapted dose distribution. In particular, the adapted treatment plan may be generated such that the adapted dose distribution is achieved when the radiation therapy treatment is delivered on the basis of the adapted treatment plan.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first treatment plan is generated on the basis of a first delineation of the at least one structure determined on the basis of the planning image and wherein the planning unit is configured to generate the transformation on the basis of a second delineation of the at least one structure determined on the basis of the further image. In order to generate the second delineation, the at least one structure may be newly delineated in the further image. In a preferred alternative implementation, the planning unit is configured to generate the second delineation from the first delineation using an image transformation, the image transformation being determined on the basis of an image registration procedure between the further image and the planning image. The transform may particularly be a non-rigid transform in order to allow for accurately determining the second delineation.

With respect to the transformation used for adapting the treatment plan, one embodiment of the invention includes that the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation by optimizing an objective functional generated on the basis of the dose objectives evaluated for a dose distribution resulting from the first treatment plan and a patient anatomy as represented by a transformed second image and a transformed second delineation of the at least one structure, the objective function being optimized with respect to the transformation for generating the transformed second image and the transformed second delineation. In this manner, it is possible to determine the transformation on the basis of the dose objectives. These dose objectives are particularly taken into account in the determination of the transformation through the form of the objective functional which is determined on the basis of the dose objectives.

In a related embodiment, the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation such that an objective functional O(T) of a transformation T of the form O(T)=F(d[p₁,T*I₂],T*s₂) is at least approximately optimized when the transformation T corresponds to the determined transformation, where F is a functional generated on the basis of the dose objectives, d is a dose distribution in the region of the patient body, p₁ is first treatment plan, I₂ is the second image, T*I₂ is a transform of the second image generated using the transformation T, s₂ is the second delineation of the target structure and T*s₂ is a transform of the second delineation generated based on the transformation T.

Moreover, it is possible to generate a plurality of first treatment plans in the initial planning procedure for planning the radiation therapy treatment. These first treatment plans may particularly be generated using different safety margins or for different anatomical configurations of the relevant region of the patient body including the at least one structure to be treated. These different anatomical configurations may be generated by anticipating typical deformations of the relevant body region.

In this respect, one embodiment of the invention includes that the planning unit is configured to (i) obtain a plurality of first treatment plans generated on the basis of the dose objectives, (ii) at least approximately optimize the objective functional for each of the first treatment plans and to compare the optima of the objective function determined for the treatment plan, and (iii) determine an adapted treatment for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the result of the comparison.

In this embodiment, the optimum of the objective functional serves as a measure for assessing the suitability of the different first treatment plans for delivering the radiation therapy treatment to the changed patient anatomy as shown in the further image. The different first treatment plans may be generated on the basis of different settings of the radiation source delivering the radiation which result in a similar dose distribution, on the basis different anatomical configurations of the region of the patient body including the target structure and/or on the basis of different safety margins for the target structure and/or the OARs on the basis of which the treatment plans have been generated.

In a related embodiment, the planning unit is configured to select one of the first treatment plans on the basis of the comparison and to adapt the treatment on the basis of the transformation determined by optimizing the objective function for the selected treatment plan.

In a further related embodiment, the planning unit is configured to determine a combined treatment plan on the basis of the first treatment plans on the basis of the comparison and to adapt the combined treatment plan on the basis of the transformations determined by optimizing the objective functionals for the treatment plans.

In a further embodiment, the system suggested by the invention further comprises an imaging unit for acquiring the further image of the region of the patient body and the planning unit is configured to receive the further image from the imaging unit.

In accordance with a further aspect, the invention suggests a method for planning a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body. The method comprises: (i) obtaining a first treatment plan generated on the basis of a planning image of the region of the patient body and on the basis of dose objectives with respect to the region of the patient body, the first treatment plan corresponding to a first dose distribution in the region of the patient body, (ii) receiving a further image of the region of the patient body, (iii) determining a transformation for generating an adapted dose distribution from the first dose distribution on the basis of the further image and the planning image, and (iv) determining an adapted treatment plan for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution. The transformation is determined on the basis of the dose objectives.

In a further aspect, the invention suggests a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method, particularly a computer of the system described above.

It shall be understood that the system of claim 1, the method of claim 12 and the computer program product of claim 13 have similar and/or identical preferred embodiments, in particular, as defined in the dependent claims.

It shall be understood that a preferred embodiment of the present invention can also be any combination of the dependent claims or above embodiments with the respective independent claim.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically and exemplarily shows components of a treatment system for delivering radiation therapy treatment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 schematically and exemplarily illustrates an embodiment of a treatment system for delivering a radiation therapy treatment of a target structure included in a region of a patient body. The target structure may particularly be a tumor. The treatment is delivered in accordance with a treatment plan which is generated on the basis of one or more initial treatment plans prepared a longer time, such as several days, in advance of the delivery of the treatment on the basis of a planning image. Starting from the initial treatment plan(s), an adapted treatment plan is determined shortly before the delivery of the treatment on the basis of a current image of the relevant region of the patient body. In one embodiment, this image is acquired in the treatment room. Therefore, the image is referred to as in-room image herein. However, it will be understood that the image is not necessarily acquired in the treatment in other embodiments.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the radiation therapy system comprises a radiation source 1, which can be operated to emit ionizing radiation into a treatment zone 2. In the treatment zone 2, the patient body is positioned on a suitable support, such as a patient table (not shown in the figures). The relative position and orientation of the radiation source 1 with respect to the relevant body region can be varied over a certain range of positions and orientations. For this purpose, the radiation source 1 may be mounted on rotatable gantry 3 so that the radiation source 1 can be rotated around the treatment zone 2 within a certain angular range, which may be 360° or less, in order to deliver radiation under different directions of the radiation beam. In addition, the gantry 3 and/or the patient support may be movable in a direction parallel and/or perpendicular to the rotation axis of the gantry 3. Hereby, it is possible to set-up a certain relative position between the patient and radiation isocenter such that the target structure is arranged within the radiation isocenter. Further, it may be possible to rotate the support around an axis perpendicular to the rotation axis of the gantry 3.

The radiation source 1 may include a linear particle accelerator, a cyclotron, a synchrotron or another radiation source for producing an ionizing radiation beam. Thus, both electron and proton radiation sources are contemplated. One example of another radiation source is a radioactive source, such as a cobalt source. Further, the radiation source 1 may be provided with a collimator 4 for shaping the radiation beam. The collimator 4 may particularly allow for varying the radiation intensity across the radiation beam in a defined way. For this purpose, the collimator 4 may be configured as a multi-leaf collimator.

During delivery of the radiation therapy treatment, radiation is delivered to the target structure under varying beam directions and the intensity of the radiation emitted by the radiation source 1 may be varied in accordance with the treatment plan. Moreover, the configuration of the collimator 4 is may be changed based on the treatment plan so that the radiation beam is delivered with a time-varying shape. In one implementation, the radiation therapy treatment is delivered in accordance with successive segments, where each segment corresponds to one configuration of the treatment parameters including the beam direction, the emitted radiation intensity and the collimator configuration or beam shape. In between two segments, the configuration is changed from the configuration of the first of the segments to the configuration of the second of the segments. During this period, the radiation beam may be turned off (this is usually also referred to as step-and-shoot approach). Likewise, it is possible to continuously change the configuration in accordance with the segments without interrupting the radiation beam. This approach is applied in so-called volume modulated arc therapy (VMAT), for example.

For controlling the components of the radiation therapy treatment system, including the radiation source 1, the collimator 4, the gantry 3 and the patient support, during the treatment, the treatment system includes a control unit 5. Preferably, the control unit 5 is implemented as a software program which comprises the control routines carried out by the control unit and which is executed in a computer device coupled to the further components of the radiation therapy treatment system. The control of these components is performed in accordance with a treatment plan which specifies the corresponding control parameters, such as the parameters defining the radiation beam intensity, the collimator configuration, and the gantry position, as a function of time. These parameters are also referred to as machine parameters herein.

As said above, the treatment plan for controlling the system during the treatment is generated by adapting at least one initial treatment plan. For performing the adaptation the system comprises a planning unit 6. The evaluation unit 6 may be implemented as a software program comprising routines for performing the adaptation and for performing the adaptation of the treatment plan and being executed on a computer device included in the treatment system. In this respect, the same computer device may also implement the control unit 5 as explained above. However, the evaluation unit 6 and the control unit 5 may likewise be implemented in different computer devices.

The adaptation of the treatment plan is carried out on the basis of the in-room image, which is acquired shortly before the delivery of the radiation treatment. For acquiring the in-room image, the treatment system may comprise an imaging unit 7 configured in accordance with a suitable imaging modality, such as, for example, computed tomography (CT) imaging, cone-beam CT imaging or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Preferably, the imaging modality of the imaging unit 7 corresponds to the imaging modality used for acquiring the planning image. This allows for an easier and more reliable registration between the planning image and the in-room image.

In one embodiment, a single initial treatment plan is generated for a patient. This is done on the basis of a clinical prescription for the patient, which may particularly specify a radiation dose to be delivered to the target structure during the treatment. In addition, maximum radiation doses to be delivered to the OARs may be specified. This may be done in the prescription for the patient and/or in general rules relating to the treatment.

Further, the initial treatment plan is prepared on the basis of a three-dimensional planning image I₁ of the relevant region of the patient body including the target structure which consists of voxels of a certain size. In this image, the target structure and the relevant OARs are delineated using techniques known the person skilled in the art. The delineations of the target structure and the OARs may be provided in the form of binary masks s_i referring to the same coordinate frame as the planning image I₁. Moreover, safety margins may be added to the delineations in order to generate effective delineations of the target structure and the OARs on the basis of which the treatment plan is calculated. These safety margins account for changes of the position and/or shape of the target structure and/or the OARs during the treatment.

On the basis of the treatment goals, a set of objectives and/or constraints is determined with respect to the radiation dose to be delivered to the delineated structures. While the objectives should be fulfilled as much as possible, the constraints correspond to conditions which necessary have to be fulfilled. Such constraints may be derived from the treatment goals. Moreover, the constraints may be feasibility constraints resulting from mechanical limitations of the treatment system.

The possible objectives and constraints relating to the target structure and the OARs particularly comprise the delivery of a maximum and minimum radiation dose to relevant structure. Minimum dose requirements usually relate to the target structure. So a minimum radiation dose to be delivered to one or more locations or regions of the target structure may particularly be specified. Maximum dose requirements usually relate to the organs at risk. In this regard, a maximum radiation dose to be delivered to one or more locations or regions of the organs at risk may particularly be specified. In addition, further objectives may be defined, such as, for example, the delivery of a uniform dose distribution to a certain region of the treatment volume (which will usually be a region of the target structure).

In the planning procedure, a treatment plan is then generated which at least approximately fulfills the objectives and which fulfills the constraints. For this purpose, an optimization problem is formulated on the basis of the objectives and constraints, and this optimization problem is at least approximately solved with respect to the relevant optimization parameters p.

For solving the optimization problem a user-guided iterative optimization procedure may particularly be applied. In each step of such a procedure, the planning system automatically calculates preliminarily optimized parameters p by approximating a solution of the optimization problem. Then, the planning system determines the dose distribution corresponding to these parameters p and visualizes the dose distribution to the planner operating the planning system. The planner reviews the dose distribution to decide whether he/she is satisfied with the dose distribution or not. If the planner is satisfied in one step, the final treatment plan is determined on the basis of the current optimized parameters p. If the user is not satisfied, the optimization problem is modified in accordance with changes specified by the user as a result of his/her review. Then, the planning system calculates a new preliminarily optimized parameters p in the next step.

In one embodiment, the optimization parameters p corresponds to the (time-varying) fluences specifying fluences of the emitted radiation beam incident onto the patient body with respect to a grid dividing the beam's cross section into elements (also referred to as beamlets), where the fluence of one element corresponds to its radiation energy integrated over time. This approach for determining the treatment plan is also referred to as fluence map optimization (FMO). From the optimized fluence map, the planning system may determine the machine parameters for achieving the fluence map using a model of the radiation source 1 and the collimator 4. These machine parameters form the treatment plan.

The dose distribution d corresponding to the fluence map, which specifies the radiation dose absorbed by each voxel of the relevant region of the patient body, can be determined using a model describing the interaction between the radiation and the tissue included in the relevant region of the patient body. More specifically, the dose distribution can be determined on the basis of an influence matrix, where each element of the each element of the influence matrix quantifies the amount of dose absorbed by a voxel of the relevant region of the patient body per unit emission intensity from one of the beamlets. The influence matrix is a function of the planning image I₁, particularly of the anatomical configuration of the relevant region of the patient body as shown in the planning image I, and can be determined using a technique known to the person skilled in the art.

In a further embodiment, the optimization parameters p corresponds to the machine parameters of the treatment system. This approach is also referred to as direct machine parameter optimization (DMPO). In this embodiment, a model of the radiation source 1 and the collimator, which links the fluence map with the machine parameters, is incorporated into the optimization problem so that the machine parameters are directly optimized. Using this model, the dose distribution d is included into the objective functionals f_k as a function of the machine parameters in DMPO rather than as a function of the fluences.

In solving the optimization problem, an objective functional F which is generated on the basis of the objectives may particularly be minimized. The objective functional F may comprise a collection of individual objective functionals f_k, where each individual objective functional f_k represents one objective. The objective functionals f_k are generally functionals of the dose distribution d and the delineation(s) s_i of the target or risk structure(s) i to which the objective relates. The dose distribution d is a function of the optimization parameters p and the anatomical configuration of the relevant region of the patient body as shown in the planning image I. Thus, providing the aforementioned dependencies in explicit form, the objective functionals f_k can be written as f_k(d[p,I], s_i).

The objective functional F may particularly correspond to a weighted sum of the objective functionals f_k, i.e.

$F\left(p\right)=\sum _{k=1}^N{w}_k·f_k\left(d\left[p,I\right],s_i\right),$

where the parameter w_k denotes the weight of the objective function f_k. Due to the weighting, objectives having a higher weight are satisfied more likely than objectives having a lower weight, in case such objectives are in conflict with each other. Hence, the weights are selected in accordance with the importance of the objectives with respect to the success of the treatment.

Further, as a specific example, an objective functional f_k representing an objective to deliver a maximum or minimum radiation dose D to a certain volume V pertaining to a target or risk structure may be given in the form of a quadratic cost function by

$f_k=\sum _{i\in V}g\left(d_i\left[p,I\right],D\right)·{\left[\frac{d_i\left[p,I\right]-D}{D}\right]}^2·\Delta v_i,$

where g=H(d_i−D) in case a maximum dose D is specified and g=H(D−d_i) in case a minimum dose D is specified, Δv_i denotes the volume of the voxel i, H is the Heaviside step function defined by

$H\left(x\right)=\{\begin{array}{c}0,x<0\\ 1,x\ge 0.\end{array}$

In each step of the user-guided optimization procedure one version of the objective functional F may be minimized with respect to the optimization parameters p such that the constraints are fulfilled. For this purpose, the planning system can apply any suitable numerical algorithm known to the person skilled in the art. Then, the dose distribution corresponding to the optimized parameters p is presented to the planner as explained above. When the planner is not satisfied with this dose distribution, he/she may modify the objective function F to create a new version thereof which is then minimized again in the next step of the procedure. In the process of modifying the objective function F, the planner may particularly adapt one or more weights w_k and/or change the individual objective functionals f_k, e.g. by deleting and/or adding objective functionals f_k. Once, the planner is satisfied with the dose distribution, the initial treatment plan is generated on the basis of the optimized parameter p₁ corresponding to the accepted dose distribution d₁ as explained above.

In the way described above, the initial treatment plan is prepared some time in advance of the delivery of the radiation therapy treatment in a planning system which may be included in the treatment system or which may be operated separately. Since the anatomical configuration of the region of the patent body including the target structure may change between the time of generation of the initial treatment plan and the time of the delivery of the radiation treatment, an adaptation of the treatment plan is carried out on the basis of the in-room image I₂ by means of the planning unit.

In order to prepare the adaptation, the delineations s_i′ of the target structure and the relevant OARs in the in-room image are determined. This may be done by newly delineating these structures in the in-room image. However, it is preferred that the delineations s_i′ are determined on the basis of the planning image I₁ using an image registration procedure. In particular, deformable image registration (DIR) may be carried out between the planning image I₁ and the in-room image I₂ in order to determine a transformation for mapping the planning image I₁ onto the in-room image I₂. Using this transformation, the delineations s_i′ of the relevant structures in the in-room image I₂ may be determined from the delineations s_i of the structures in the planning image I₁.

The adaptation of the treatment plan is carried out in the planning unit 6 on the basis of a rigid transformation T determined by the planning unit 6. This is a transformation which only comprises a common rotation and/or a translation of voxels in the image space.

In accordance with a first approach, the transformation is used in order to transform the beam configuration as specified in the initial treatment plan in order to determine the corresponding treatment parameters of the adapted treatment. In this process, the beam directions may particularly be changed (e.g. by specifying a rotation of the grantry 3) and/or the beam may be rotated around the beam axis (e.g. by specifying a rotation of the collimator 4) on the basis of a part of the transformation which corresponds to a rotation, and the relative positions between the radiation isocenter and the patient may be changed (e.g. by specifying a displacement of the gantry 3 and or the patient support) on the basis of a part of the transformation which corresponds to a translation. By means of the latter change, it is particularly possible to compensate for displacements of the target structure within the patient anatomy from its position at the time of the initial planning.

In accordance with a further approach, the transformation Tor its inverse may be used for transforming the dose distribution d corresponding to the initial treatment plan to an adapted dose distribution d₂. On the basis of this dose distribution the adapted treatment plan may then be determined. This may be done by determining a fluence map resulting in the adapted dose distribution d₂. This determination can be made on the basis of the (inverse) influence matrix for the anatomical configuration of the relevant body region as shown in the in-room image I₂. Further, the planning unit 6 may determine the machine parameters for the adapted treatment plan on the basis of the fluence map using a model of the radiation source 1 and the collimator 4.

For determining the rigid transformation T, the planning unit 6 uses a functional F′, which is determined on the basis of the treatment objectives and which is (approximately) minimized by the optimization parameters p₁ corresponding to the initial treatment plan. The functional F′ is created on the basis of the transform T. More specifically, the functional F′ is created on the basis of a transform T*I₂ of the in-room image I₂ and on the basis of a transform T*s_2i of the delineations of the target structure and the OARs in the in-room image I₂ and is evaluated for the optimization parameters p₁. Thus, the functional F′ has the form

F′(T)=F′(d[p₁,T*I₂],T*s_2i).

The transform T*I₂ of the in-room image I₂ and the transform T*s_2i of the delineations of the target structure and the OARs in the in-room image I₂ have the from

T*I₂(x)=I₂(Rx+t), and

T*s_2i(x)=s_2i(Rx+t),

where R is a rotation matrix, t represents a displacement and x denotes the voxel positions in the image space. With respect to the dependency of the functional F′(T) on the transform T*I₂ of the in-room image I₂, the functional F′(T) may particularly depend on an influence matrix determined in accordance with the anatomical configuration of the relevant body region as represented by the transformed image T*I₂. This dependency corresponds to the dependency of the objective functional F on the planning image I₁, which already has been explained above.

In a specific implementation, the planning unit 6 may create the functional F(T) on the basis of the objective functional F which was used in the planning procedure for determining the initial treatment plan and which is minimized by the optimization parameters p₁ corresponding to the initial treatment plan. In particular, the functional F′(T) may correspond to the version of the objective function Fused in the last step of the operator-guided iterative planning procedure, which resulted in the accepted dose distribution d₁. However, the parameters of the objective function which were determined on the basis of the planning image I and on the basis of the delineations s_1i of the target structure and the relevant OARs in the planning image I₁ in the planning procedure are replaced by corresponding parameters determined on the basis of the transformed in-room image T*I₂ and the transformed delineations s_2i. Thus, the functional F′(T) may have the form

$F^{\prime }\left(T\right)=\sum _{k=1}^N{w}_k·f_k\left(d\left[p_1,T*I_2\right],T*s_{2i}\right),$

and the weights w_k and the functionals f_k may corresponds to those used in the initial planning procedure.

Upon having generated the functional F′(T), the planning unit 6 minimizes the minimizes the functional F′(T) with respect to the transformation T. Upon having determined a specific transformation T by at least approximately minimizing the functional F(T), the planning unit 6 determines an adapted treatment plan in a way explained above. Thus, the planning unit 6 directly determines adapted treatment parameters, particularly adapted beam directions and adapted positions of the radiation isocenter relative to the patient, using the transformation. Or, the planning unit 6 may determine the inverse of the determined transformation T and may use the inverse in order to generate an adapted dose distribution on the basis of which the treatment plan is generated as explained above.

One may think of the determined transformation T as an approximation of a transformation for transforming the in-room image I₂ into the planning image I₁. However, the transformation is not determined on the basis of a comparison of characteristics of the images or anatomical configurations shown therein but on the basis of the dose objectives.

In a variant of the embodiments described so far, plural initial treatment plans may be generated in the initial planning procedure. The different initial treatment plans may be generated on the basis of different safety margins for the target structure and the OARs or on the basis of different settings of the radiation source which result in dose distributions all satisfying the planning objectives. In addition or as an alternative, the initial treatment plans may be generated for different anatomical configurations of the relevant region of the patient body. These anatomical configurations may include anticipated likely changes to the anatomical configuration represented by the planning image. Such changes may be determined on the basis of empirical observations for the same region of the patient body for a number of other patients and/or on the basis of models describing the progression of the target structure with time, for example).

When plural initial treatment plans are prepared, one transformation S (or T) may be determined by the planning unit 6 for each of the treatment plans on the basis of the in-room image as described above. Then, the planning unit 6 may compare the determined minima of the functional F′(T) for the different treatment plans. Upon the comparison, the planning unit 6 may select the treatment plan having the smallest minimum and adapts this treatment plan on the basis of the transformation S determined for this treatment plan. The adapted treatment plan may then be used to deliver the radiation therapy treatment to the patient.

In a further implementation, the planning unit 6 may adapt several initial treatment plans on the basis of the transformations S determined for these treatment plans and combines the adapted treatment plans to generate a treatment plan which is then used to deliver the radiation therapy treatment. The combination may particularly be a weighted combination, where the weights may be determined on the basis of the minima of the functionals F′(T) evaluated for the different treatment plans. In the process of combing the treatment plans, the planning unit may determine a treatment plan, which comprises segments from the each of the combined treatment plans so that the segments are delivered one after the other.

Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.

A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium, supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

1. System for planning a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body, the system comprising a planning unit configured to:

obtain a first treatment plan generated on the basis of a planning image of the region of the patient body and on the basis of dose objectives with respect to the region of the patient body, the first treatment plan corresponding to a first dose distribution in the region of the patient body,

receive a further image of the region of the patient body,

determine a transformation for generating an adapted treatment plan from the first treatment plan and/or for generating an adapted dose distribution from the first dose distribution on the basis of the further image, and

determine an adapted treatment plan for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution,

wherein the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation on the basis of the dose objectives.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the transformation is a rigid transformation consisting of a rotation and/or a translation.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the first treatment plan is generated on the basis a first delineation of the at least one structure determined on the basis of the planning image and wherein the planning unit is configured to generate the transformation on the basis of a second delineation of the at least one structure determined on the basis of the further image.

4. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation by optimizing an objective functional generated on the basis of the dose objectives evaluated for a dose distribution resulting from the first treatment plan and a patient anatomy as represented by a transformed second image and for a transformed second delineation of the at least one structure, the objective function being optimized with respect to the transformation for generating the transformed second image and the transformed second delineation.

5. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein the planning unit is configured to determine the transformation such that an objective functional O(T) of a transformation T of the form O(T)=F(d(p1,T*I2),T*s2) is at least approximately optimized when the transformation T corresponds to the determined transformation, where F is a functional generated on the basis of the dose objectives, d is a dose distribution in the region of the patient body, p1 is first treatment plan, I2 is the second image, T*I2 is a transform of the second image generated using the transformation T, s2 is the second delineation of the target structure and T*s2 is a transform of the second delineation generated based on the transformation T.

6. The system as defined in claim 4, wherein the planning unit is configured to:

obtain a plurality of first treatment plans generated on the basis of the dose objectives,

at least approximately optimize the objective functional for each of the first treatment plans and to compare the optima of the objective function determined for the treatment plan, and

determine an adapted treatment for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the result of the comparison.

7. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the planning unit is configured to select one of the first treatment plans on the basis of the comparison and to adapt the treatment on the basis of the transformation determined by optimizing the objective function for the selected treatment plan.

8. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the planning unit is configured to determine a combined treatment plan on the basis of the first treatment plans on the basis of the comparison and to adapt the combined treatment plan on the basis of the transformations determined by optimizing the objective functionals for the treatment plans.

9. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein the planning unit is configured to generate the second delineation from the first delineation using an image transformation, the image transformation being determined on the basis of an image registration procedure between the further image and the planning image.

10. The system as defined in claim 9, wherein the image registration procedure is a deformable image registration procedure.

11. The system as defined in claim 1 further comprising an imaging unit for acquiring the further image of the region of the patient body and wherein the planning unit is configured to receive the further image from the imaging unit.

12. A method for planning a radiation therapy treatment of at least one structure in a region of a patient body, the method comprising:

obtaining a first treatment plan generated on the basis of a planning image of the region of the patient body and on the basis of dose objectives with respect to the region of the patient body, the first treatment plan corresponding to a first dose distribution in the region of the patient body,

receiving a further image of the region of the patient body,

determining a transformation for generating an adapted dose distribution from the first dose distribution on the basis of the further image and the planning image, and

determining an adapted treatment plan for controlling the radiation therapy treatment on the basis of the transformation and/or the adapted dose distribution,

wherein the transformation is determined on the basis of the dose objectives.

13. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of claim 12.