A method for determining an irradiation plan includes specifying a target volume to be irradiated and a condition to be fulfilled, and implementing a first optimization. Implementing the first optimization includes providing a first data record, in which the target volume is mapped, and determining a first parameter set for the irradiation planning by implementing a first optimization algorithm. The first parameter set is optimized with respect to the condition to be fulfilled by using the first data record. The method also includes implementing a second optimization that includes providing a second data record that has a higher resolution than the first data record, determining a second parameter set by implementing a second optimization algorithm. The second parameter set is optimized with respect to the condition to be fulfilled by using the second data record and using the first parameter set. The method also includes generating an irradiation planning data record from the second parameter set.

After accessing optimization information for a particular patient and for a particular radiation treatment platform, a control circuit generates an optimized radiation treatment plan by processing the optimization information using direct-aperture-optimization that includes fluence-based sub-optimization. By one approach, the control circuit includes the fluence-based sub-optimization in at least some, but not necessarily all, iterations of the direct-aperture-optimization. By one approach, the control circuit is configured to include only a few iterations of the fluence-based sub-optimization when including the fluence-based sub-optimization in at least some, but not necessarily all, iterations of the direct-aperture-optimization.

A method and computer program for dose calculation include using information from a fraction image to update contour information from a planning image and also includes using density information from the fraction image and the planning image for performing dose calculation.

Information is provided regarding a block's sectional contour in a particular plane as corresponds to a radiation-therapy beam. For a point at which block effects are to be assessed, a point is projected onto a plane of the block and a plurality of straight lines is then formed. Each line has a particular relationship with respect to the projected point (such as having each such line intersect all others at the projected point). Intersections amongst these straight lines and the contour are used to evaluate corrections to the dose at the point. These teachings will accommodate identifying line segments that are located within the contour and that are bound by the intersections with the contour. Elementary contributions as correspond to each of these line segments can be averaged to evaluate delivered dose corrections that are due to the presence of beam-limiting and beam-shaping devices in the particular treatment plan.

The invention is directed to a data processing method of displaying a radiation dose distribution in tissue of a patient and a corresponding program and computer running the program, the steps of the method being executed by a computer and comprising: a) acquiring medical image data comprising medical image information describing an anatomical body part; b) acquiring, based on the medical image data, irradiation eligibility data comprising irradiation eligibility information describing an eligibility class to which the anatomical body part belongs, the eligibility class describing the eligibility of the anatomical body part for irradiation with treatment radiation; c) acquiring dose distribution data comprising dose distribution information describing a radiation dose distribution in the anatomical body part; d) displaying, on a display device, the dose distribution information in the medical image information based on the irradiation eligibility data and based on using a color range which represents the dose distribution information.

A method and system may include a therapeutic agent having a radioactive source enclosed by a container. The container may be placed within a cavity of a medical device for treating animal tissue. The method and system allows a radioactive source to be manufactured in such a manner so as to control and spatially modulate the delivery of radiation doses to a treatment area of animal tissue, such as for tissue of humans. From the container, radiation doses and/or a radiation field are produced by the radiation source. The geometry and size of the radiation doses are controlled by the geometry of the container and the geometry of the radiation source as well as the type, number, and geometry of holes/slots in either the source material and/or a surface of the container.

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for radiation treatment of tumors based at least in part on patient-specific imaging information. The methods, systems and apparatuses include computer programs encoded on computer-readable media. The methods include acquiring imaging information relating to a target to be treated. The imaging information is non-anatomic imaging information relating to the target acquired from at least one imaging marker that reflects at least one of the metabolic, physiological and histological features of the target. The methods further include computing a radiation dose based at least on the imaging information.

Systems, devices, and methods for non-Gaussian energy distribution modeling for treatment planning algorithms used in particle radiation therapy.

A control circuit utilizes patient information and treatment-platform information to optimize a radiation-treatment plan by permitting isocenters of various radiation-treatment fields as comprise parts of a same treatment plan to not be coincidental with one another to thereby yield an optimized treatment plan. The patient information can pertain to one or more physical aspects of the patient as desired. By one approach, the foregoing can comprise scattering the isocenters of the various radiation-treatment fields around a predetermined point (such as, for example, the center of the treatment volume and/or some or all of the beams). This approach can comprise causing an area of highest energy flux for a given field to be non-coincident for at least some of the radiation-treatment fields as are specified by the radiation-treatment plan.

When IMRT technology for a radiation therapy system utilizing an X-ray or the like is applied to a particle beam therapy system having a conventional wobbler system, it is required to utilize two or more boluses. The present invention solves the problem of excess irradiation in IMRT by a particle beam therapy system. More specifically, the problem of excess irradiation in IMRT by a particle beam therapy system is solved by raising the irradiation flexibility in the depth direction, without utilizing a bolus. A particle beam irradiation apparatus has a scanning irradiation system that performs scanning with a charged particle beam accelerated by an accelerator and is mounted in a rotating gantry for rotating the irradiation direction of the charged particle beam. The particle beam irradiation apparatus comprises a columnar-irradiation-field generation apparatus that generates a columnar irradiation field by enlarging the Bragg peak of the charged particle beam.