Patent ID: 6618467
Filing Date: 2003-09-09
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
A combination radiation therapy and tomographic imaging machine comprising:a megavoltage radiation source directing a radiation beam formed of rays directed generally along an axis; a gantry holding the radiation source to rotate the angle of the axis about a treatment volume; a radiation detector positioned on the gantry across the treatment volume opposite the radiation source to receive and measure radiation of the rays to provide data of a projection; a modulator modulating the flux of the rays passing through the treatment volume; an electronic computer executing a stored program to: (i) control the modulator to direct selected high flux rays at selected axis angles at the patient within the treatment volume according to a radiation treatment plan, the selected rays and angles comprising less than a tomographic projection set, to acquire a high flux incomplete tomographic projection set from the radiation detector; (ii) direct low flux rays at the patient within the treatment volume to acquire low flux data from the radiation detector; (iii) combine the high flux incomplete tomographic projection set and the low flux data to produce an augmented complete tomographic projection set; and (iv) reconstruct a tomographic image of the patient from the augmented complete tomographic projection set.