Granted Patent B2

US 12,214,219 · App. 18/295,448 · Granted Feb 4, 2025

Inventors: Michael Kirk Owens (San Francisco, CA); Rostem Bassalow (Hayward, CA); Peter Demetri Olcott (Los Gatos, CA); Yevgen Voronenko (Sunnyvale, CA); David Quentin Larkin (Menlo Park, CA); Samuel Mazin (Menlo Park, CA)

Assignee: RefleXion Medical, Inc.

A61N5/1031A61B6/037A61B6/5217A61N5/1039A61N5/1049A61N5/1064A61N5/1067A61N5/1068A61N5/1071A61N2005/1034A61N5/1036A61N5/1037A61N5/1038A61N5/1045A61N2005/1052A61N2005/1055A61N2005/1058

Abstract

Claims (29)

1. A method for calculating bounded dose-volume histograms (DVH) for evaluating a treatment plan, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of images X′ 1, 2, 3, . . . j based on an acquired patient image X, where a patient target volume (PTV) is located at j different positions within a radiation-firing zone (RFZ) of a patient;

calculating a dose D j for each of the images X′ 1, 2, 3, . . . j by multiplying a dose calculation matrix A with a radiation-firing matrix P and X′ j (D j =A·P·X j ′);

plotting a dose-volume histogram (DVH) curve for each dose D j to generate a family of j DVH curves, wherein the DVH curve for each dose D j represents a volume fraction for each dose value; and

generating a minimum boundary curve (min-DVH curve) and a maximum boundary curve (max-DVH curve) of the family of DVH curves, wherein the min-DVH curve comprises a first series of points that represent a minimum volume fraction for each dose value of the family of DVH curves, and the max-DVH curve comprises a second series of points that represent a maximum volume fraction for each dose value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a plurality of images X′ j comprises simulating j three-dimensional rigid shifts of the PTV within the RFZ for each of the images X′ j .

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a plurality of images X′ j comprises changing intensity values of the PTV in each image X′ j to simulate a range of standard uptake values (SUVs).

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein changing intensity values of the PTV comprises increasing the intensity values of the PTV to be +25% over a nominal intensity value.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein changing intensity values of the PTV comprises decreasing the intensity values of the PTV to be −25% under a nominal intensity value.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acquired image X is a PET image.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a min-DVH curve comprises fitting the first series of points to a first curve, and generating a max-DVH curve comprises fitting the second series of points to a second curve.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dose calculation matrix A and the radiation-firing matrix P are derived based on the acquired patient image X prior to a treatment session.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient image X is a first patient image, and the method further comprises acquiring a second patient image Y, calculating a dose D Y by multiplying the dose calculation matrix A with the radiation-firing matrix P and Y (D Y =A·P·Y), and plotting a DVH curve corresponding to second patient image Y.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising generating a notification if the DVH curve of the second patient image Y is not bounded between the min-DVH curve and the max-DVH curve.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the notification is a visual notification and/or an audio notification.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the DVH curve corresponding to the second patient image Y represents a volume fraction over the PTV for each dose value.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the DVH curve corresponding to the second patient image Y represents a volume fraction over an organ-at-risk (OAR) for each dose value.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein plotting a DVH curve for each dose D j comprises plotting a volume fraction over the PTV for each dose value to generate a family of j DVH curves for the PTV.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising plotting a DVH curve for each dose D j by plotting a volume fraction over an organ-at-risk (OAR) for each dose value to generate a family of j DVH curves for the OAR, and wherein the min-DVH curve is an OAR min-DVH curve and the max-DVH curve is an OAR max-DVH curve.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the DVH curve corresponding to the second image Y is an OAR DVH curve, and wherein the method further comprises generating a notification if the DVH curve of the OAR in the second patient image Y exceeds the max-DVH curve of the OAR.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the min-DVH curve and the max-DVH curve on a display.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the display is a display of a radiation therapy system.

19. A method for evaluating a radiotherapy treatment plan, the method comprising:

acquiring imaging data x of a patient;

calculating a radiation dose D x and plotting a dose-volume histogram (DVH) based on the acquired imaging data, a radiation-firing matrix P, and a dose calculation matrix A (D x =A·P·x); and

generating a notification that is displayed on a monitor if the DVH is not within a range defined by a minimum-DVH curve and a maximum-DVH curve.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising generating a notification that is displayed on the monitor if the radiation dose distribution D x is not within a dose distribution range defined by a minimum dose threshold and a maximum dose threshold.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the imaging data is PET imaging data.

22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising calculating a plan-quality index (PQI) based on the acquired imaging data x, and generating a notification that is displayed on a monitor if the PQI is not within a PQI range defined by a minimum PQI threshold and a maximum PQI threshold.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)

Cited By (3)

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