Supervised 4-D dose map deformation for adaptive radiotherapy planning

1. A radiotherapy method with dose management in respect of a region of interest (ROI), comprising:

a) generating a first diagnostic planning image (CBCT k ) of a region of interest including a target zone to receive radiation therapy;

b) determining from the first diagnostic planning image (CBCT k ) a first radiotherapy plan which controls a radiation source to irradiate the region of interest to deliver a first dose distribution (D k ) to the ROI;

c) performing a first radiation therapy fraction using the first radiation therapy plan to control the radiation source to deliver the first dose distribution (D k ) to the ROI;

d) in preparation for a second radiation therapy fraction, generate a second diagnostic planning image (CBCT k+1 );

e) establishing a spatial registration transformation between the first diagnostic planning image (CBCT k ) and the second diagnostic planning image (CBCT k+1 ) of a ROI, the spatial registration transformation defining a deformation (T k );

f) computing a magnitude of said deformation (T k );

g) compare the magnitude of the deformation with a pre-defined deformation criterion;

h1) in response to the magnitude failing to comply with the pre-defined deformation criterion, repeating steps a) and b) to determine a second radiation therapy plan and performing the second radiation therapy fraction based on the second radiation therapy plan;

h2) in response to the magnitude complying with the pre-defined deformation criterion, applying the spatial registration transformation to a map of the first dose distribution (D k ) for the ROI to obtain a map of a second dose distribution (D k+1 );

i) deliver the second dose distribution (D k+1 ) to the ROI; and

j) perform the second radiation therapy fraction by controlling the radiation source to deliver the second dose distribution (D k+1 ) to the ROI.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including:

outputting an indication of said deformation magnitude.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication includes any one or a combination of: i) a visualization or ii) an acoustical signal.

4. A radiation therapy system with dose management comprising:

a radiation source;

a diagnostic imaging system configured to generate diagnostic images (CBCT) of a region of interest (ROI) including a target zone to receive radiation therapy;

one or more data processors configured to:

determine a first radiotherapy plan which controls a radiation source based on a first diagnostic image (CBCT k ) to deliver a first dose distribution (D k ) to the ROI;

control the radiation source to perform a first radiation therapy fraction using the first radiation therapy plan to control the radiation source to deliver the first dose distribution (D k ) to the ROI;

in preparation for a second radiation therapy fraction, control the diagnostic scanner to generate a second diagnostic image (CBCT k+1 );

establish a spatial registration transformation between the first diagnostic image (CBCT k ) and the second diagnostic image (CBCT k+1 ) of the ROI, the transformation defining a deformation (T k );

compute a magnitude of said deformation; and

apply the registration transformation to an existing dose distribution (D k ) for the (ROI) to obtain a deformed dose distribution (D k+1 );

if i) the magnitude of the deformation complies with a pre-defined deformation criterion or ii) in response to a signal issued in relation to the computed magnitude, control the radiation source to deliver the deformed dose distribution to the ROI; and

if the magnitude fails to comply with the pre-defined deformation criteria, generating a new diagnostic image and a new radiation therapy plan based on the new diagnostic image and control the radiation source to perform the second radiation therapy fraction by controlling the radiation source to deliver a second dose distribution (D k+1 ) to the ROI in accordance with the new radiation therapy plan.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the radiation source includes a linear accelerator (LINAC).

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer software configured to control a data processor of a radiation therapy system to perform the method of claim 1 .

7. A radiation therapy system including one or more computer processors configured to:

a) receive a first diagnostic image of a region of interest of a subject and use the first diagnostic image to generate a first radiation therapy plan which identifies a first dose distribution to be delivered to the region of interest and in a first fraction control a radiation source to deliver the first dose distribution to the region of interest;

b) for a subsequent fraction, receive a second diagnostic image;

c) register the second diagnostic image with the first diagnostic image to determine a deformation therebetween;

d) compare a magnitude of the deformation with a pre-defined deformation criterion;

in response to the magnitude of the deformation failing to meet the preselected criterion, generating a new diagnostic image and determining a new radiation therapy plan using the new diagnostic image with a second dose distribution, and

in response to the magnitude meeting the pre-defined criterion, applying the determined deformation to a map of the first dose distribution to generate a transformed dose distribution, and

e) control a radiation source to deliver the second dose distribution or the transformed dose distribution to the region of interest during the subsequent fraction.