Method and apparatus for emission guided radiation therapy

1. A method for delivering radiation, the method comprising:

receiving location data of a volume of interest located on a table, wherein the volume of interest comprises tumor tissue;

detecting a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths using a plurality of positron emission detectors on a gantry that is rotatable about the table;

identifying positron annihilation emission paths from the plurality of detected positron annihilation emission paths that intersect with the volume of interest; and

delivering radiation to the tumor tissue by translating the table in steps, and at each table step, directing radiation using a therapeutic radiation source to a portion of the tumor tissue based on the identified positron annihilation emission paths.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of tumor tissue comprises a slice of tumor tissue that is located within a treatment beam plane of the therapeutic radiation source.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein delivering radiation to the tumor tissue comprises directing radiation in response to multiple positron annihilation emission paths that intersect the volume of interest.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein directing radiation comprises emitting a series of radiation beams to the volume of interest with partial knowledge of actual tumor tissue location or motion.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising generating a map of photon emission activity.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein receiving location data of the volume of interest comprises identifying the volume of interest by detecting a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths and generating a map of photon emission activity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location data of the volume of interest is determined during treatment planning.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying positron annihilation emission paths comprises comparing each detected emission path with the location data of the volume of interest.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the plurality of positron annihilation emission paths comprises rotating the plurality of positron emission detectors about the volume of interest while detecting the plurality of positron annihilation emission paths.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein directing radiation to the portion of the tumor tissue based on the identified positron annihilation emission paths comprises directing radiation along one or more of the identified positron annihilation emission paths.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

receiving second location data of a second volume of interest, wherein the second volume of interest comprises a second tumor tissue;

detecting a second plurality of positron annihilation emission paths using the plurality of positron emission detectors;

identifying a second set of positron annihilation emission paths from the second plurality of detected positron annihilation emission paths that intersect with the second volume of interest; and

delivering radiation to the second tumor tissue by translating the table in steps, and at each table step, directing radiation to a portion of the second tumor tissue based on the second set of identified positron annihilation emission paths.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the therapeutic radiation source is mounted on the rotatable gantry, and wherein delivering radiation to the first tumor tissue and the second tumor tissue comprise directing radiation from the therapeutic radiation source from multiple gantry positions.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tumor tissue comprises living tumor tissue.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tumor tissue comprises lung tumor tissue.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volume of interest comprises kidney tissue.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volume of interest comprises brain tissue.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a positron-emitting radionuclide to the tumor tissue.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the positron-emitting radionuclide is selected from the group consisting of fluorine-18, carbon-11, oxygen-15, and nitrogen-13.

19. A radiotherapy system comprising:

a gantry;

a movable table, wherein the gantry is rotatable about the table;

a plurality of positron emission detectors mounted on the gantry and configured to detect a plurality of positron annihilation emission paths;

a therapeutic radiation source mounted on the gantry; and

a controller in communication with the gantry, the movable table, the positron emission detectors, and the therapeutic radiation source, wherein the controller is configured to

receive location data of a volume of interest that is located on the table, wherein the volume of interest comprises tumor tissue,

identify positron annihilation emission paths from the plurality of detected positron annihilation emission paths that intersect with the volume of interest, and

translate the table in steps while delivering radiation to multiple portions of the tumor tissue based on the identified positron annihilation emission paths.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the portion of tumor tissue comprises a slice of tumor tissue that is located within a treatment beam plane of the therapeutic radiation source.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein delivering radiation comprises directing radiation in response to multiple positron annihilation emission paths that intersect the volume of interest.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein directing radiation comprises emitting a series of radiation beams to the volume of interest with partial knowledge of actual tumor tissue location or motion.

23. The system of claim 19 , wherein delivering radiation comprises directing radiation along one or more of the identified positron annihilation emission paths.

24. The system of claim 19 , wherein the location data of the volume of interest is determined during treatment planning.

25. The system of claim 19 , wherein identifying positron annihilation emission paths comprises comparing each detected emission path with the location data of the volume of interest.

26. The system of claim 19 , wherein the positron emission detectors are configured to detect the plurality of positron annihilation emission paths while being rotated about the volume of interest.

27. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller is configured to direct the therapeutic radiation source to deliver radiation while rotating the gantry and detecting positron annihilation emission paths.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the plurality of positron annihilation emission detectors is configured to detect positron annihilation emission paths from multiple tumor regions, and wherein the controller is configured to direct the therapeutic radiation source to delivery radiation to the multiple tumor regions from multiple gantry positions.

29. The system of claim 19 , further comprising a collimation assembly mounted on the gantry and disposed in a radiation path of the therapeutic radiation source, wherein the configuration of the collimation assembly is adjustable while the gantry is rotating.

30. The system of claim 29 , wherein the controller is in communication with the collimation assembly and the collimation assembly comprises a multi-leaf collimator and collimator jaws.

31. The system of claim 30 , wherein the multi-leaf collimator is reconfigurable for each gantry position.

32. The system of claim 31 , wherein the controller is further configured to move the collimator jaws in coordination with the multi-leaf collimator.

33. The system of claim 19 , further comprising a plurality of therapeutic radiation sources mounted on the gantry.