Patent ID: 7280633

Claim:
A radiation therapy delivery system having fixed and movable components, the system comprising: a gantry; a patient pod configured to secure a patient substantially immobile with respect to the patient pod; a patient positioner interconnected to the patient pod so as to position the patient pod along three translational and three rotational axes within the gantry; a radiation therapy nozzle interconnected to the gantry and selectively delivering therapeutic radiation along a beam axis; a plurality of external measurement devices which obtain position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle; and a controller which receives the position measurements of at least the patient pod and nozzle and determines movement commands to position the patient in a desired pose with respect to the beam axis and corresponding movement trajectories of the patient pod with respect to other fixed and movable components of the therapy delivery system based upon the movement commands and determines whether a collision is indicated for the movement commands and inhibits movement if a collision would be indicated.