Patent ID: 11033756

Abstract:
A radiotherapy apparatus comprises a source for producing a beam of ionising radiation along an axis, the beam covering a maximum aperture of the source, a collimator for collimating the beam to produce a collimated beam covering a sub-part of the maximum aperture, a patient support positioned in the path of the beam, a rotatable gantry, on which the source is mounted, for rotating the source around the patient support thereby to deliver the beam from a range of directions, an imaging device located opposite the source and with the patient support between the source and the imaging device, and mounted on the gantry via a drive member allowing translational motion of the imaging device in at least one direction perpendicular to the axis, and a control unit adapted to control the drive member to move the imaging device within the maximum aperture and maintain coincidence between the imaging device and the sub-part of the maximum aperture. Accordingly, the EPID can be moved during the treatment in order to maintain the collimated field of the radiation beam within the bounds of the EPID. This ensures that the image is valid and prevents damage to the EPID as a result of exposure of more sensitive (or less shielded) parts to the beam.