Patent ID: 9737730
Date: 2017-08-22
CPC Classifications: A61N

Claim:
1. A programmable method for use in administering radiation therapy using a radiotherapeutic apparatus with gantry rotation to reduce a dose delivery time, the method comprising: obtaining an arc with configurable selections of control points and associated monitor units (MUs) defined by a volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment plan; segmenting the arc into a plurality of subarcs; setting a plurality of the control points and associated MUs within each of the subarcs to form a continuous sequence of segmentations arranged on each of the subarcs, wherein each of the subarcs starts on a first control point or between two consecutive control points and ends on a second control point or between two consecutive control points, with each of the segmentations defining a range for delivering a prescribed dose of radiation, and the prescribed radiation dose is delivered in a continuous manner throughout the segmentation on each of the subarcs; determining a plurality of weighted doses of radiation and delivered MUs in each of the segmentations, wherein the delivered MUs of each of the control points are distributed to be delivered in two adjacent segmentations according to a proportional distribution rule; turning off the radiation beam when each of the subarcs ends and turning on the radiation beam again when a succeeding subarc starts, if a succeeding subarc exists, until the treatment is completed.