Patent ID: 7613501
Filing Date: 2009-11-03
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
1. A system to facilitate and verify proper target alignment for radiation delivery so that a treatment plan can be more accurately applied to a patient, the system comprising: an application computer having memory associated therewith; a treatment plan stored in the memory of the application computer to provide planned radiation treatment delivery instructions to deliver radiation treatment to a patient; a radiation delivery apparatus in communication with the application computer to provide radiation treatment to the patient, the radiation delivery apparatus including a radiation emitter adapted to emit a radiation beam having a theoretical point source and central beam axis, a controller responsive to the treatment delivery instructions to control delivery of the radiation beam to the patient, and a plurality of rotating assemblies each being adapted to direct the radiation beam through a target of the patient and each having a rotational path in a distinct plane and an axis of rotation, the axis of rotation of each of the plurality of rotating assemblies intersecting the axis of rotation of each other rotating assembly of the plurality of rotating assemblies at a three-dimensional coordinate to define an isocenter of an isocenter coordinate system of the radiation delivery apparatus, the theoretical point source being a predetermined distance from the isocenter to define a source-to-axis distance, the radiation emitter connected to one of the plurality of rotating assemblies so that the one of the plurality of rotating assemblies defines an emitter carrier rotating assembly; an optically trackable body having a trackable body origin positioned within a preselected coordinate system assigned thereto, a trackable body reference point positioned with respect to the preselected coordinate system, and a plurality of separate and spaced-apart optical retro-reflective indicators each connected at a separate preselected position thereon to thereby indicate a position of the trackable body reference point; a trackable body detector having a detector body adapted to be positioned separate and spaced apart from the optically trackable body at a three-dimensional trackable body detector reference location, and including a pair of separate and spaced apart optical receivers connected to the detector body, each of the optical receivers having a field of view and being adapted to receive optical energy reflected by each of a plurality of optical retro-reflective indicators when positioned in the field of view to thereby detect a three-dimensional position of each of the plurality of optical retro-reflective indicators when positioned simultaneously within the field of view of both of the optical receivers to produce a plurality of position signals representing such three-dimensional indicator positions, and a first illuminator positioned adjacent one of the pair of separate and spaced apart optical receivers and a second illuminator positioned adjacent the other of the pair of separate and spaced apart optical receivers to selectively illuminate each of the plurality of optical retro-reflective indicators when positioned in the field of view of the respective adjacent optical receiver to thereby energize the optical retro-reflective indicators within the field of view of the respective adjacent optical receiver; a trackable body position determiner in communication with the trackable body detector and responsive to the plurality of position signals produced by the trackable body detector to determine a three-dimensional coordinate position of the trackable body reference point, the trackable body position determiner having memory associated therewith and position determiner program product stored therein, the position determiner program product being responsive to the plurality of position signals from the trackable body detector, to determine the three-dimensional coordinate position of the trackable body reference point when a preselected number of the plurality of retro-reflective indicators are simultaneously positioned within the field of view of both of the optical receivers of the trackable body detector and when positioned adjacent a surface of the patient to define a surface point position; a target alignment analyzing computer in communication with the trackable body position determiner to determine proper target alignment for the radiation delivery apparatus and having a processor and memory coupled to the processor to store operating instructions, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the isocenter, and the source-to-axis distance of the radiation delivery apparatus, therein, and a display coupled to the processor to display target alignment data; and target alignment analyzing program product stored in the memory of the target alignment analyzing computer to facilitate and verify proper target alignment for radiation delivery, the target alignment analyzing program product including: