Frameless radiosurgery treatment system and method

1. A method comprising:

generating internal positional data about an internal target region in a patient at a plurality of times at a first time interval;

generating external positional data about motion of an external region of the patient's body using an external sensor at a plurality of times at a second time interval, wherein the second time interval is different than the first time interval;

determining a correlation between one or more positions of the internal target region and one or more positions of the external region using the external positional data of the external sensor and the internal positional data of the internal target region;

predicting a future position of the internal target region based on the determined correlation; and

controlling a treatment beam based on the determined correlation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal positional data identifies internal motion of the patient's body, the internal motion comprising motion of the internal target region.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a series of preoperative images for both the internal target region and the external region of the patient's body; and

generating an initial correlation model based on the series of preoperative images prior to treatment of the patient.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

generating new internal positional data and new external positional data during the treatment; and

updating the initial correlation model during the treatment by recomputing the initial correlation model based on the new internal positional data and the new external positional data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment beam comprises:

activating the treatment beam based on a correlation model generated from the correlation so that the treatment beam is switched on and off periodically.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal positional data comprises data for one or more fiducial markers located near the internal target region, the method further comprising:

generating a correlation model from the correlation based on computing a deformation state of the internal target region based on relative positions of the one or more fiducial markers.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment beam comprises:

moving the treatment beam based on the correlation.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment beam comprises:

moving a collimating device to change characteristics of the treatment beam based on the correlation.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a first detection device to generate internal positional data about an internal target region in a patient at a plurality of times at a first time interval;

a second detection device to generate external positional data, about motion of an external region of the patient's body using an external sensor, at a plurality of times at a second time interval, wherein the second time interval is different than the first time interval; and

a processor, operatively coupled to the first detection device and to the second detection device, configured to:

determine a correlation between one or more positions of the internal target region and one or more positions of the external region using the external positional data of the external sensor and the internal positional data of the internal target region;

predict a future position of the internal target region based on the determined correlation; and

control a treatment beam based on the determined correlation.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a treatment beam generator, operatively coupled to the processor, to generate the treatment beam, the treatment beam generator to activate the treatment beam periodically based on the correlation.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein:

the internal positional data comprises data for one or more fiducial markers located near the internal target region; and

the processor is configured to generate a correlation model from the correlation based on computing a deformation state of the internal target region based on relative positions of the one or more fiducial markers.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a treatment beam generator, operatively coupled to the processor, to generate the treatment beam, wherein the processor is configured to control the treatment beam generator to move the treatment beam in accordance with the correlation.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a treatment beam generator, operatively coupled to the processor, to generate the treatment beam; and

a collimating device, operatively coupled to the treatment beam generator, wherein the processor is configured to control the treatment beam by changing characteristics of the treatment beam based on the correlation.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a correlation model based on the correlation and to update the correlation model during treatment by recomputing the correlation model based on new internal positional data and new external positional data.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the processor, internal positional data about an internal target region in a patient, the internal positional data having been generated at a plurality of times at a first time interval;

receiving, by the processor, external positional data about motion of an external region of the patient's body, the external positional data having been generated, using an external sensor, at a plurality of times at a second time interval, wherein the second time interval is different than the first time interval;

determining, by the processor, a correlation between one or more positions of the internal target region and one or more positions of the external region using the external positional data of the external sensor and the internal positional data of the internal target region;

predicting, by the processor, a future position of the internal target region based on the determined correlation; and

controlling a treatment beam based on the determined correlation.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the internal positional data identifies internal motion of the patient's body, the internal motion comprising motion of the internal target region.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

receiving a series of preoperative images for both the internal target region and the external region of the patient's body; and

generating an initial correlation model based on the series of preoperative images prior to treatment of the patient.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:

receiving new internal positional data and new external positional data during the treatment; and

updating the initial correlation model during the treatment by recomputing the initial correlation model based on the new internal positional data and the new external positional data.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein controlling the treatment beam comprises:

activating the treatment based on a correlation model generated from the correlation so that the treatment beam is switched on and off periodically.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein controlling the treatment beam comprises:

performing at least one of moving the treatment beam based on the correlation or moving a collimating device to change characteristics of the treatment beam based on the correlation.