Collision avoidance for radiation therapy

1. A method comprising:

determining an outline of a patient and a patient support, wherein the patient is supported by the patient support, and wherein the outline of the patient and the patient support comprises a line corresponding with a boundary of at least a part of the patient and a boundary of at least a part of the patient support;

determining a plurality of orientations of the patient support and of at least one device, wherein the at least one device is capable of delivering a radiation treatment to the patient or of performing imaging associated with the radiation treatment; and

based on the outline and the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device, calculating a clearance zone that no portion of the at least one device will occupy when the at least one device or the patient supported by the patient support is in motion.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the clearance zone at a display.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outline is determined using at least one surface scanning system.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

positioning the patient based on a predetermined setup configuration of the patient support and the at least one device, wherein the patient is positioned using the outline; and

checking that the outline is within the clearance zone.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the outline is a first outline, the method further comprising using the at least one surface scanning system to generate a second outline of at least the patient after said positioning.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining the outline includes selecting a patient model from a plurality of patient models corresponding to different patient sizes.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the outline is a first outline, the method further comprising:

positioning the patient to a target position based on a predetermined setup configuration of the patient support and the at least one device;

using at least one surface scanning system to generate a second outline of at least the patient after said positioning; and

checking that the second outline is within the clearance zone.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outline is a first outline, the method further comprising:

positioning the patient to a target position based on a predetermined setup configuration of the patient support and the at least one device;

acquiring at least one image of a portion of a body of the patient;

comparing the at least one acquired image with at least one previously acquired or generated reference image;

based on said comparing, calculating a patient support shift;

shifting the patient support according to the calculated patient support shift;

using at least one surface scanning system to generate a second outline of at least the patient; and

comparing the second outline with an expected shifted version of the first outline, to determine if the patient is at a predetermined treatment position.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising checking that the second outline is within the clearance zone.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

delivering the radiation treatment to the patient; and

during the delivery of the radiation treatment:

using at least one surface scanning system to generate a third outline of at least the patient, and

checking that the third outline is within the clearance zone.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining at least one location of an anticipated collision or near collision between (1) the at least one device and (2) the patient or a structure attached to the patient support or to the patient; and

displaying the at least one location at a display.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device are determined in a treatment mode.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device are determined in a treatment and partial imaging mode.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device are determined in a treatment and full imaging mode.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device are determined in an imaging only mode.

16. A method comprising:

determining an outline of a patient and a patient support, wherein the patient is supported by the patient support;

determining a plurality of orientations of the patient support and of at least one device, wherein the at least one device is capable of delivering a radiation treatment to the patient or of performing imaging associated with the radiation treatment; and

based on the outline and the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device, calculating a clearance zone that no portion of the at least one device will occupy when the at least one device or the patient supported by the patient support is in motion;

wherein said clearance zone is a complete clearance zone, wherein said calculating the clearance zone includes:

calculating partial clearance zones at respective orientations of the patient support; and

determining the complete clearance zone based on the partial clearance zones.

17. A method comprising:

positioning a patient on a patient couch to a target position based on a predetermined setup configuration of the patient couch and a radiation treatment device;

acquiring at least one image of a portion of a body of the patient;

comparing the at least one acquired image with at least one previously acquired or generated reference image;

based on said comparing, calculating a couch shift;

shifting the patient couch according to the calculated couch shift;

using at least one surface scanning system to generate a first outline of at least the patient;

comparing the first outline with an expected shifted version of a second outline, generated before the first outline, to determine if the patient is at a predetermined treatment position; and

checking that the first outline is within a precomputed clearance zone that will not be occupied by any portion of the radiation treatment device or of an imaging device attached to the radiation treatment device during a radiation treatment for the patient.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

delivering the radiation treatment to the patient; and

during the delivery of the radiation treatment:

using said at least one surface scanning system to generate a third outline of at least the patient, and

checking that the third outline is within the clearance zone.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

determining at least one location of an anticipated collision or near collision between: (1) the radiation treatment device or an imaging device attached to the radiation treatment device and (2) the patient or a structure attached to the patient couch or to the patient; and

displaying the at least one location at a display.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein, when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

obtaining an outline of a patient and a patient support, wherein the outline of the patient and the patient support comprises a line corresponding with a boundary of at least a part of the patient and a boundary of at least a part of the patient support;

determine a plurality of orientations of the patient support and of at least one device, wherein the patient is supported by the patient support, and wherein the at least one device is capable of delivering a radiation treatment to the patient on the patient support or of performing imaging associated with the radiation treatment; and

based on the outline and the plurality of orientations of the patient support and of the at least one device, calculate a clearance zone that no portion of the at least one device will occupy when the at least one device or the patient supported by the patient support is in motion.