Frameless radiosurgery treatment system and method

Abstract

A method of compensating for breathing and other motions of a patient during treatment includes periodically generating internal positional data about an internal target region. The method further includes generating external positional data about external motion of the patient's body using an external sensor and generating a correlation between one or more positions of the internal target region and one or more positions of an external region using the external positional data of the external sensor and the internal positional data of the internal target region. The method further includes predicting the position of the internal target region at some later time based on the correlation model.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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 delivery based on the determined correlation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment delivery comprises moving a treatment table. 
     
     
         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 delivery; and   updating the initial correlation model during the treatment delivery 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 delivery comprises:
 activating a 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 delivery comprises:
 moving a treatment beam generator based on the correlation.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment delivery comprises:
 moving a collimating device to change characteristics of a 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, 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 delivery based on the determined correlation. 
   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a treatment beam generator, operatively coupled to the processor, to generate a 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 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 a treatment beam, wherein the processor to control the treatment beam generator to move the treatment beam generator in accordance with the correlation.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a treatment beam generator, operatively coupled to the processor, to generate a treatment beam; and   a collimating device, operatively coupled to the treatment beam generator, wherein the processor to control the treatment beam by changing characteristics of the treatment beam based on the correlation.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein to control the treatment delivery, the processor is to move a treatment table. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 receive, 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;   receive, 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;   determine, 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;   predict, by the processor, a future position of the internal target region based on the determined correlation; and   control a treatment delivery based on the determined correlation.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein to control the treatment delivery, the processor is to move a treatment table. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein to control the treatment delivery, the processor to move a treatment beam generator to redirect a treatment beam to the future position of the internal target region. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein to control the treatment delivery, the processor to move a collimating device to change characteristics of a treatment beam, generated by the treatment bean generator, based on the correlation. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , the processor further to:
 receive new internal positional data and new external positional data during the treatment delivery; and   update the initial correlation model during the treatment delivery by recomputing the initial correlation model based on the new internal positional data and the new external positional data.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein to control the treatment delivery, the processor to:
 activate a treatment beam based on a correlation model generated from the correlation to periodically switch on and off the treatment beam.