Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of treating a patient with radiation, the method comprising:acquiring three-dimensional image data from the patient using a radiation source while the patient is in a treatment position;defining a target region while the patient remains in the treatment position;generating an initial contour set for the target region from one of a contour library and a prototype contour set;generating a treatment plan based on the defined target region and the three-dimensional image data while the patient remains in the treatment position; andwhile the patient remains in the treatment position, delivering radiation to the target region using the radiation source according to the treatment plan. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target region is defined using one or more predefined shapes. 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the act of defining an avoidance region with one or more predefined shapes. 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the act of defining an amount of radiation to be delivered to the target region. 5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the act of generating a dose distribution based on the amount of radiation to be delivered to the target region. 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the act of generating a number of treatment fractions based on the dose distribution. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the target region is an irregular shape and wherein a plurality of the predefined shapes can be used to define the irregular shape. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of defining a target region includes the act of utilizing at least one predefined shape to define the target region in a transverse slice of the image data. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the act of defining a target region includes the act of automatically defining the target region three-dimensional space based on two-dimensional contours drawn in any combinations of coronal slice planes, sagittal slice planes, and transverse slice planes. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the target contour is manually edited. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the generation of contours uses deformable registration. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the image data is acquired using a radiation therapy system having an imaging apparatus. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a fan-shaped geometry. 14. The method of claim 12 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a multi-slice geometry. 15. The method of claim 12 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a cone-beam geometry. 16. The method of claim 12 wherein the imaging apparatus uses megavoltage energies. 17. The method of claim 12 wherein the imaging apparatus uses kilovoltage energies. 18. The method of claim 12 wherein the imaging apparatus uses emitted photons. 19. The method of claim 12 wherein the imaging apparatus is a magnetic resonance imaging system. 20. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of acquiring image data includes the act of pre-processing the image data to generate the treatment plan. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the act of pre-processing the image data includes adjusting the density content of the image data. 22. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering photon radiation. 23. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering proton radiation. 24. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering therapeutic particle radiation. 25. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of incorporating previously delivered dose information. 26. The method of claim 1 wherein the patient remains substantially stationary between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 27. The method of claim 1 wherein the patient lies on a platform, and wherein the patient remains on the platform between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 28. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes generating a conformal treatment plan and further comprises the act of optimizing the conformal treatment plan. 29. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes generating an IMRT treatment plan and further comprises the act of optimizing the IMRT treatment plan. 30. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment plan is used for subsequent treatment fractions. 31. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing class solutions. 32. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing optimization templates. 33. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of performing a pre-determined number of iterations. 34. The method of claim 1 further comprising the act of acquiring subsequent image data and the act of generating a subsequent treatment plan based on the subsequently acquired image data. 35. The method of claim 34 wherein the subsequent treatment plan is based at least partially on one or more previous treatment plans. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing a biological model. 37. The method of claim 34 wherein the subsequent treatment plan is based at least partially on a previously delivered dose to the patient. 38. The method of claim 37 wherein the previously delivered dose includes an accumulation of a plurality of doses, and wherein the plurality of doses is determined based on a deformation process. 39. The method of claim 1 further comprising the act of generating a subsequent treatment plan, and wherein the subsequent treatment plan includes at least one treatment fraction, wherein the subsequent treatment plan is optimized for at least one treatment fraction. 40. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment plan includes at least two treatment fractions, and wherein the patient is aligned for delivery of the second treatment fraction using the image data. 41. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment plan includes at least two treatment fractions, and wherein the patient is positioned for delivery of the second treatment fraction using one of contour information, image information, and dosimetric information. 42. The method of claim 1 further comprising the act of generating a quality assurance plan adapted to validate a dose delivery in a phantom. 43. The method of claim 42 wherein the treatment plan includes a plurality of fractions, and further comprising the act of dividing one of the fractions into a first sub-fraction and a second sub-fraction, and wherein the treatment plan dosimetry is validated after delivery of the first sub-fraction and before completing delivery of the second sub-fraction. 44. The method of claim 1 wherein the radiation source is in communication with an integrated database. 45. The method of claim 1 wherein the radiation source includes a single source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region. 46. The method of claim 1 wherein the acquiring, defining, generating an initial contour set, generating a treatment plan, and delivering acts can be completed in less than thirty minutes. 47. The method of claim 1 wherein the radiation source includes a first source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a second source point for a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region. 48. A method of treating a patient with radiation, the method comprising:acquiring three-dimensional image data from the patient using a radiation source while the patient is in a treatment position;defining a target region while the patient remains in the treatment position;generating a treatment plan based on the defined target region and the three-dimensional image data while the patient remains in the treatment position;while the patient remains in the treatment position, delivering radiation to the target region using the radiation source according to the treatment plan;acquiring subsequent image data; andgenerating a subsequent treatment plan based on the subsequently acquired image data, wherein the subsequent treatment plan is based at least partially on a previously delivered dose to the patient, andwherein the previously delivered dose includes an accumulation of a plurality of doses, and wherein the plurality of doses is determined based on a deformation process. 49. The method of claim 48, wherein the target region is defined using one or more predefined shapes. 50. The method of claim 48 wherein the patient remains substantially stationary between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 51. The method of claim 48 wherein the patient lies on a platform, and wherein the patient remains on the platform between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 52. The method of claim 48 wherein the radiation source includes a single source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region. 53. The method of claim 48 wherein the radiation source includes a first source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a second source point for a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region. 54. A method of treating a patient with radiation, the method comprising:acquiring three-dimensional image data from the patient using a radiation source while the patient is in a treatment position;defining a target region while the patient remains in the treatment position;generating a treatment plan based on the defined target region and the three-dimensional image data while the patient remains in the treatment position; andwhile the patient remains in the treatment position, delivering radiation to the target region using the radiation source according to the treatment plan, andwherein the act of acquiring image data includes the act of pre-processing the image data to generate the treatment plan, andwherein the act of pre-processing the image data includes adjusting the density content of the image data. 55. The method of claim 54, wherein the target region is defined using one or more predefined shapes. 56. The method of claim 54 further comprising the act of defining an avoidance region with one or more predefined shapes. 57. The method of claim 54 further comprising the act of defining an amount of radiation to be delivered to the target region. 58. The method of claim 57 further comprising the act of generating a dose distribution based on the amount of radiation to be delivered to the target region. 59. The method of claim 58 further comprising the act of generating a number of treatment fractions based on the dose distribution. 60. The method of claim 54 wherein the target region is an irregular shape and wherein a plurality of the predefined shapes can be used to define the irregular shape. 61. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of defining a target region includes the act of utilizing at least one predefined shape to define the target region in a transverse slice of the image data. 62. The method of claim 61 wherein the act of defining a target region includes the act of automatically defining the target region three-dimensional space based on two-dimensional contours drawn in any combinations of coronal slice planes, sagittal slice planes, and transverse slice planes. 63. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of defining a target region includes the act of using an automatically generated contour. 64. The method of claim 63 wherein the automatically generated contour is adapted to be manually edited. 65. The method of claim 54 wherein an initial contour set is generated from one of a contour library and a prototype contour set. 66. The method of claim 65 wherein the generation of contours uses deformable registration. 67. The method of claim 66 wherein the image data is acquired using a radiation therapy system having an imaging apparatus. 68. The method of claim 67 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a fan-shaped geometry. 69. The method of claim 67 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a multi-slice geometry. 70. The method of claim 67 wherein the image data is acquired with a radiation beam having a cone-beam geometry. 71. The method of claim 67 wherein the imaging apparatus uses megavoltage energies. 72. The method of claim 67 wherein the imaging apparatus uses kilovoltage energies. 73. The method of claim 67 wherein the imaging apparatus uses emitted photons. 74. The method of claim 67 wherein the imaging apparatus is a magnetic resonance imaging system. 75. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering photon radiation. 76. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering proton radiation. 77. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of delivering radiation to the target region includes the act of delivering therapeutic particle radiation. 78. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of incorporating previously delivered dose information. 79. The method of claim 54 wherein the patient remains substantially stationary between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 80. The method of claim 54 wherein the patient lies on a platform, and wherein the patient remains on the platform between the act of acquiring image data from the patient and the act of delivering radiation to the target region. 81. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes generating a conformal treatment plan and further comprises the act of optimizing the conformal treatment plan. 82. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes generating an IMRT treatment plan and further comprises the act of optimizing the IMRT treatment plan. 83. The method of claim 54 wherein the treatment plan is used for subsequent treatment fractions. 84. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing class solutions. 85. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing optimization templates. 86. The method of claim 54 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of performing a pre-determined number of iterations. 87. The method of claim 54 further comprising the act of acquiring subsequent image data and the act of generating a subsequent treatment plan based on the subsequently acquired image data. 88. The method of claim 87 wherein the subsequent treatment plan is based at least partially on one or more previous treatment plans. 89. The method of claim 88 wherein the act of generating the treatment plan includes the act of utilizing a biological model. 90. The method of claim 87 wherein the subsequent treatment plan is based at least partially on a previously delivered dose to the patient. 91. The method of claim 90 wherein the previously delivered dose includes an accumulation of a plurality of doses, and wherein the plurality of doses is determined based on a deformation process. 92. The method of claim 54 further comprising the act of generating a subsequent treatment plan, and wherein the subsequent treatment plan includes at least one treatment fraction, wherein the subsequent treatment plan is optimized for at least one treatment fraction. 93. The method of claim 54 wherein the treatment plan includes at least two treatment fractions, and wherein the patient is aligned for delivery of the second treatment fraction using the image data. 94. The method of claim 54 wherein the treatment plan includes at least two treatment fractions, and wherein the patient is positioned for delivery of the second treatment fraction using one of contour information, image information, and dosimetric information. 95. The method of claim 54 further comprising the act of generating a quality assurance plan adapted to validate a dose delivery in a phantom. 96. The method of claim 95 wherein the treatment plan includes a plurality of fractions, and further comprising the act of dividing one of the fractions into a first sub-fraction and a second sub-fraction, and wherein the treatment plan dosimetry is validated after delivery of the first sub-fraction and before completing delivery of the second sub-fraction. 97. The method of claim 54 wherein the radiation source is in communication with an integrated database. 98. The method of claim 54 wherein the radiation source includes a single source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region. 99. The method of claim 54 wherein the acquiring, defining, generating an initial contour set, generating a treatment plan, and delivering acts can be completed in less than thirty minutes. 100. The method of claim 54 wherein the radiation source includes a first source point for a radiation beam used in the acquisition of image data from the patient and a second source point for a radiation beam used in the delivery of radiation to the target region.