Granted Patent B2

US 8,315,356 · App. 12/884,515 · Granted Nov 20, 2012

Abstract

Claims (52)

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining a plurality of projection images of a patient positioned on a treatment couch;

displaying at least one of the plurality of projection images with a corresponding synthetic projection image on a display;

adjusting the position of the at least one projection image on the display to approximately align with the corresponding synthetic projection image in response to a user dragging the at least one projection image on the display with a user interface device; and

moving the treatment couch to position the patient based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the projection images are generated from x-ray images.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the projection images are generated from fluoroscopy images.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic projection image is a digitally reconstructed radiograph.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein displaying at least one of the plurality of projection images comprises:

displaying a first projection image with a first corresponding synthetic projection image; and

displaying a second projection image with a second corresponding synthetic projection image.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first projection image and the second projection image are a stereo pair of images.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein dragging the at least one projection image comprises:

moving the at least one projection image with the user interface device to align one or more structures visible in the at least one projection image with a corresponding one or more structures visible in the corresponding synthetic projection image.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more structures is at least one of an anatomical feature, a fiducial, and a tumor.

9. The computer-implemented of claim 1 , wherein moving the treatment couch based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image comprises:

computing a back projection on the plurality of projection images onto a three dimensional space; and

positioning the patient in approximate alignment with an imaging center based on the back projection.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an input from the user that the at least one projection image has been moved to approximately align with the corresponding synthetic projection image.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a treatment delivery system, cause the treatment delivery system to perform a method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of projection images of a patient positioned on a treatment couch;

displaying at least one of the plurality of projection images with a corresponding synthetic projection image on a display;

adjusting the position of the at least one projection image on the display in response to a user dragging the at least one projection image on the display with a user interface device; and

transmitting treatment couch positioning data based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the projection images are generated from one of: x-ray images and fluoroscopy images.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein displaying at least one of the plurality of projection images comprises:

displaying a first projection image with a first corresponding synthetic projection image; and

displaying a second projection image with a second corresponding synthetic projection image.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein dragging the at least one projection image comprises:

moving the at least one projection image with the user interface device to align one or more structures visible in the at least one projection image with a corresponding one or more structures visible in the corresponding synthetic projection image.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein transmitting treatment couch positioning data based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image comprises:

computing a back projection on the plurality of projection images into a three dimensional space; and

transmitting alignment data to align the treatment couch with an imaging center based on the back projection.

16. A treatment delivery system comprising:

a display;

a user interface device;

a memory; and

a processing device operatively coupled with the display, the user interface device and the memory to

obtain a plurality of projection images of a patient positioned on a treatment couch;

display at least one of the plurality of projection images with a corresponding synthetic projection image on the display;

adjust the position of the at least one projection image on the display in response to a user dragging the at least one projection image on the display with a user interface device; and

move the treatment couch based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image.

17. The treatment delivery system of claim 16 , wherein the projection images are generated from one of: x-ray images and fluoroscopy images.

18. The treatment delivery system of claim 16 , wherein the processing device is to display at least one of the plurality of projection images by:

displaying a first projection image with a first corresponding synthetic projection image; and

displaying a second projection image with a second corresponding synthetic projection image.

19. The treatment delivery system of claim 16 , wherein dragging the at least one projection image comprises:

moving the at least one projection image with the user interface device to align one or more structures visible in the at least one projection image with a corresponding one or more structures visible in the corresponding synthetic projection image.

20. The treatment delivery system of claim 16 , wherein the processing device is to move the treatment couch based on position adjustments of the at least one projection image by:

computing a back projection on the set of projection images into a three dimensional space; and

aligning the treatment couch with an imaging center based on the back projection.

Assignments (11)