Method and apparatus to facilitate administering therapeutic radiation to a heterogeneous body
These teachings facilitate the administration of therapeutic radiation to a heterogeneous patient volume using a radiation beam source. More particularly, these teachings provide for determining a cross-sectional size of a radiation beam as corresponds to that radiation beam source and also for determining density information corresponding to the aforementioned heterogeneous body. These teachings then provide for generating a three-dimensional radiation dose calculation for the heterogeneous body using a control circuit configured as a convolution/superposition based dose calculator using a three-dimensional energy-spreading kernel. By one approach, these teachings provide for the calculator scaling total energy released per mass as a function of the cross-sectional size and energy of the radiation beam and the aforementioned density information.
1. A method to facilitate the administration of therapeutic radiation to a heterogeneous patient volume using a radiation beam source, the method comprising:
determining a cross-sectional size of a radiation beam as corresponds to the radiation beam source;
generating a three-dimensional radiation dose calculation for the heterogeneous patient volume using a control circuit configured as a convolution/superposition based dose calculator using a three-dimensional energy-spreading kernel, wherein the calculator scales total energy released per mass as a function, at least in part, of the cross-sectional size of the radiation beam.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the heterogeneous patient volume comprises at least one of:
a patient target volume; and
an organ at risk.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the patient target volume comprises, at least in part, lung tissue.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the calculator is configured to scale the total energy released per mass by using a scaling factor that is modeled as a function, at least in part, of an effective beam size of the radiation beam.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
by the control circuit:
generating a radiation treatment plan as a function, at least in part, of the three-dimensional radiation dose calculation.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
administering therapeutic radiation to the heterogeneous patient volume per the radiation treatment plan.
7. An apparatus to facilitate administration of therapeutic radiation to a heterogeneous patient volume using a radiation beam source, the apparatus comprising:
a memory having stored therein a cross-sectional size of a radiation beam as corresponds to the radiation beam source; and
a control circuit operably coupled to the memory and configured as a convolution/superposition based dose calculator using a three-dimensional energy-spreading kernel to generate a three-dimensional radiation dose calculation for the heterogeneous patient volume, wherein the calculator scales total energy released per mass as a function, at least in part, of the cross-sectional size of the radiation beam.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the heterogeneous patient volume comprises at least one of:
a patient target volume; and
an organ at risk.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the patient target volume comprises, at least in part, lung tissue.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the calculator is configured to scale the total energy released per mass by using a scaling factor that is modeled as a function of an effective beam size of the radiation beam.
11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
generate a radiation treatment plan as a function, at least in part, of the three-dimensional radiation dose calculation.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:
a radiation treatment platform operably coupled to the control circuit and configured to administer therapeutic radiation to the heterogeneous patient volume per the radiation treatment plan.
13. A non-transitory memory having instructions stored therein, which instructions, when executed by a control circuit, cause the control circuit to:
determine a cross-sectional size of a radiation beam as corresponds to a radiation beam source;
serve as a convolution/superposition based dose calculator using a three-dimensional energy-spreading kernel to generate a three-dimensional radiation dose calculation for a heterogeneous patient volume, wherein the calculator scales total energy released per mass as a function, at least in part, of the cross-sectional size of the radiation beam.
14. The non-transitory memory of claim 13 wherein the calculator is configured to scale the total energy released per mass by using a scaling factor that is modeled as a function, at least in part, of an effective beam size for the radiation beam.