Frameless radiosurgery treatment system and method

Abstract

A method and apparatus for selectively and accurately localizing and treating a target within a patient are provided. A three dimensional mapping of a region surrounding the target is coupled to a surgical intervention. Two or more diagnostic beams at a known non-zero angle to one another may pass through the mapping region to produce images of projections within the mapping region in order to accurately localize and treat the target wherein the images are captured using one or more image recorders.

1 . A system for directing a treatment beam towards a patient, comprising: 
 a treatment bed that supports the patient during the treatment;    two or more diagnostic beam generators for generating diagnostic beams directed towards the patient during the treatment, the diagnostic beam generators being located at different predetermined positions so that the beam from each diagnostic beam generator is at a predetermined non-zero angle with respect to the beams of the other diagnostic beam generators; and    an image recording device located adjacent the treatment bed for receiving the diagnostic beams from the two or more diagnostic beam generators so that the image recording device captures the images from all of the diagnostic beams.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising means for generating a three-dimensional pre-operative image of the target region, means for comparing the images from the diagnostic beam generators to the three-dimensional image to determine the position of the target region at that time and means for adjusting the targeting of a treatment beam in response to the comparison of the three-dimensional image and the diagnostic beam images.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the adjusting means further comprises a computer-controlled robot for positioning the treatment beam.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the diagnostic beam generators comprises x-ray beam generators.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the image recorder comprises an amorphous silicon image recorder.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the treatment beam is generated by a linear accelerator.  
   
   
       7 . A system for directing a treatment beam towards a patient, comprising: 
 a treatment bed that supports the patient during the treatment;    a diagnostic beam generator for generating a diagnostic beam directed towards the patient during the treatment;    a track that supports the diagnostic beam generator to move the diagnostic beam generator between one or more different positions so that the beam from each diagnostic beam generator is at a predetermined non-zero angle with respect to the beam of the diagnostic beam generator at a different position; and    an image recording device located adjacent to the treatment bed for receiving the diagnostic beams from the diagnostic beam generator at the different positions so that the image recording device captures the images from all of the diagnostic beams.    
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 7  further comprising a respiratory motion detection system that determines the external movement of the patient during a respiratory cycle to compensate for respiratory motion of the patient during the treatment.  
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the respiratory motion detection system further comprises means for triggering the diagnostic beam generator during a predetermined phase of the respiratory cycle.  
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the respiratory motion detector further comprises one or more markers attached to the exterior of the patient that move during respiration and a marker detection beam for detecting the movement of the markers.  
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the marker detection beam is a infrared beam.  
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 7  further comprising means for generating a three-dimensional pre-operative image of the target region, means for comparing the images from the diagnostic beam generators to the three-dimensional image to determine the position of the target region at that time and means for adjusting the targeting of a treatment beam in response to the comparison of the three-dimensional image and the diagnostic beam images.  
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the adjusting means further comprises a computer-controlled robot for positioning the treatment beam.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the diagnostic beam generators comprises x-ray beam generators.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the image recorder comprises an amorphous silicon image recorder.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the treatment beam is generated by a linear accelerator.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the image comparison means comparison further comprises means for deforming the pre-operative image so that the visible structures in the pre-operative image and the diagnostic beam images match and means for determining the location of a target region based on the deformation.  
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the means image comparison further comprises means for deforming the diagnostic beam images so that the visible structures in the pre-operative image and the diagnostic beam images match and means for determining the location of a target region based on the deformation.  
   
   
       19 . A method for treating a patient, comprising: 
 utilizing a three-dimensional mapping of a region of the patient including a target region to be treated by a treatment beam;    generating one or more diagnostic beams directed towards the patient;    capturing one or more images in a single image recorder when the diagnostic beams pass through the target region of the patient wherein the diagnostic beams pass through the patient at non-zero angles with respect to each other; and    comparing the images from the diagnostic beams to the three-dimensional mapping in order to control the movement of the treatment beam during the treatment.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein utilizing the three-dimensional mapping further comprises generating three-dimensional computer tomography mapping of the region prior to the treatment of the patient.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising determining the external movement of the patient during a respiratory cycle to compensate for respiratory motion of the patient during the treatment.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the respiratory motion detection further comprises tracking the movement of one or more markers attached to the exterior of the patient that move during respiration.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the respiratory motion detection further comprises triggering the diagnostic beam generator during a predetermined phase of the respiratory cycle.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the triggering further comprises triggering based on the sensors recording the respiration of the patient.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein comparing the images further comprises deforming the pre-operative image so that the visible structures in the pre-operative image and the diagnostic beam images match and determining the location of a target region based on the deformation.  
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein comparing the images further comprises deforming the diagnostic beam images so that the visible structures in the pre-operative image and the diagnostic beam images match and determining the location of a target region based on the deformation.  
   
   
       27 . A method for directing a treatment beam towards a target region in a patient, comprising: 
 generating a three-dimensional image of the patient prior to the treatment;    determining the respiration cycle of the patient;    energizing one or more diagnostic beams at a predetermined time during the respiration cycle to locate the target region during the treatment; and    energizing a treatment beam at the same predetermined time during the respiration cycle to treat the target region.    
   
   
       28 . An apparatus for directing a treatment beam towards a target region in a patient, comprising: 
 means for generating a three-dimensional image of the patient prior to the treatment;    means for determining the respiration cycle of the patient;    means for energizing one or more diagnostic beams at a predetermined time during the respiration cycle to locate the target region during the treatment; and    means for energizing a treatment beam at the same predetermined time during the respiration cycle to treat the target region.