System and method for estimating and manipulating estimated radiation dose

1. A method for estimating a dose distribution over a three-dimensional range of voxels proposed to contain a subject resulting from one or more beams, each beam comprising a spatially varying two-dimensional intensity distribution characterized by a two-dimensional array of beamlets wherein each beamlet is associated with a corresponding intensity value, the method comprising, for each of the one or more beams:

associating a ray line with each beamlet, wherein the ray line is a projection of the beamlet into space;

convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a two-dimensional dose estimate kernel to obtain a two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution, the two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a convolved intensity value for each beamlet;

for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets: identifying voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by the ray line associated with the beamlet; and adding a dose contribution to the intersected voxels, the added dose contribution based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet; and

storing the dose distribution in accessible memory.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the dose estimate kernel comprises a two-dimensional point spread function.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the dose estimate kernel comprises a linear combination of two dimensional point spread functions.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the linear combination of point spread functions comprises a linear combination of Gaussian functions.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with the two-dimensional dose estimate kernel comprises: multiplying a Fourier transform of the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a Fourier transform of the two-dimensional dose estimate kernel to obtain a Fourier multiplication result; and determining an inverse Fourier transform of the Fourier multiplication result to obtain the two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the Fourier transform of the two-dimensional dose estimate kernel is stored in accessible memory.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein associating a ray line with each beamlet comprises associating one of a plurality ray lines with each beamlet in the array of beamlets, and in cases where two or more of the plurality of ray lines intersect a particular voxel, adding the dose contribution to the particular voxel comprises adding the dose contribution based on a linear combination of the convolved intensity values of the plurality of beamlets corresponding to the plurality of ray lines.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein, for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets and for each intersected voxel, the added dose contribution is based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet multiplied by an attenuation factor, the attenuation factor decreasing with a depth of the intersected voxel within the subject.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the attenuation factor has the form a(d)=Be −kd where d is the depth of the intersected voxel within the subject and B and k are attenuation factor parameters.

10. A method according to claim 1 comprising determining one or more radiation delivery parameters based on the dose distribution, the one or more radiation delivery parameters suitable for use by a radiation delivery apparatus for treatment of the subject.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein determining one or more radiation delivery parameters based on the dose distribution comprises performing an iterative optimization process.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein performing the iterative optimization process comprises optimizing the one or more radiation delivery parameters which will provide an optimized dose distribution estimate similar within an acceptable range to the dose distribution.

13. A method according to claim 11 wherein performing the iterative optimization comprises for each iteration:

associating a current ray line with each current beamlet, wherein the current ray line is a current projection of the current beamlet into space;

convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a current two-dimensional dose estimate kernel to obtain a current two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution, the current two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a current convolved intensity value for each current beamlet; and

for each current beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets:

identifying current voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by the current ray line associated with the current beamlet; and

adding a current dose contribution to the current intersected voxels, the added current dose contribution based on the current convolved intensity value of the current beamlet.

14. A method for estimating a dose distribution over a three-dimensional range of voxels proposed to contain a subject resulting from one or more beams, each beam comprising a spatially varying two-dimensional intensity distribution characterized by a two-dimensional array of beamlets wherein each beamlet is associated with a corresponding intensity value, the method comprising, for each of the one or more beams:

associating a ray line with each beamlet, wherein the ray line is a projection of the beamlet into space;

convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a plurality of two-dimensional dose estimate kernels to obtain a corresponding plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions, each two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a convolved intensity value for each beamlet, wherein each dose estimate kernel is associated with a different beam energy;

for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets: identifying voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by the ray line associated with the beamlet; and adding a dose contribution to the intersected voxels, the dose contribution for any one intersected voxel based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet from one of the plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions, the one of the plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions selected based on beam energy of the beam; and

storing the dose distribution in accessible memory.

15. A method for estimating a dose distribution over a three-dimensional range of voxels proposed to contain a subject resulting from one or more beams, each beam comprising a spatially varying two-dimensional intensity distribution characterized by a two-dimensional array of beamlets wherein each beamlet is associated with a corresponding intensity value, the method comprising, for each of the one or more beams:

convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a plurality of two-dimensional dose estimate kernels to obtain a corresponding plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions, each two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a convolved intensity value for each beamlet, wherein each dose estimate kernel is associated with a different range of tissue densities; and

for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets: identifying voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by a ray line associated with the beamlet; and adding a dose contribution to the intersected voxels, the dose contribution for any one intersected voxel based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet from one of the plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions, the one of the plurality of two-dimensional convolved intensity distributions selected based on tissue density of the subject associated with the one intersected voxel; and

storing the dose distribution in accessible memory.

16. A system for estimating a dose distribution over a three-dimensional range of voxels proposed to contain a subject resulting from one or more beams, each beam comprising a spatially varying two-dimensional intensity distribution characterized by a two-dimensional array of beamlets wherein each beamlet is associated with a corresponding intensity value, the system comprising a controller configured to, for each of the one or more beams:

associate a ray line with each beamlet, wherein the ray line is a projection of the beamlet into space;

convolve the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a two-dimensional dose estimate kernel to obtain a two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution, the two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a convolved intensity value for each beamlet; and

for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets: identify voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by the ray line associated with the beamlet; and add a dose contribution to the intersected voxels, the added dose contribution based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet.

17. A computer program product carrying instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the instructions when executed by a suitable processor cause the processor to perform a method for estimating a dose distribution over a three-dimensional range of voxels proposed to contain a subject resulting from one or more beams, each beam comprising a spatially varying two-dimensional intensity distribution characterized by a two-dimensional array of beamlets wherein each beamlet is associated with a corresponding intensity value, the method comprising, for each of the one or more beams:

associating a ray line with each beamlet, wherein the ray line is a projection of the beamlet into space;

convolving the two-dimensional intensity distribution with a two-dimensional dose estimate kernel to obtain a two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution, the two-dimensional convolved intensity distribution comprising a convolved intensity value for each beamlet; and

for each beamlet in the two-dimensional array of beamlets: identifying voxels in the three-dimensional range of voxels that are intersected by the ray line associated with the beamlet; and adding a dose contribution to the intersected voxels, the added dose contribution based on the convolved intensity value of the beamlet.