Techniques for particle beam therapy include receiving a target region inside a subject for particle therapy, a minimum dose inside the target region, and a maximum dose inside the subject but outside target region. Multiple beam axis angles are determined, each involving a gantry angle and a couch position. Multiple spots within the target region are determined. For each beam axis angle a pristine particle scan beam (not coaxial with any other particle scan beam) is determined such that a Bragg Peak is directed to a spot, and repeated until every spot is subjected to a Bragg Peak or an intersection of two or more such pristine scan beams. Output data indicating the pristine beamlets is stored for operation of a particle beam therapy apparatus.

A tool for radiation therapy simulation or planning is disclosed which aids in avoiding collisions during treatment. Configurations of components including at least a radiation delivery device (30) and a patient (32) are generated. Each configuration defines positions of the components in a common coordinate system. For each configuration, proximities of pairs of components of the configuration are computed using ray tracing between three-dimensional surface models (30m, 32m, 36m, 38m) representing the components of the pair. A collision is identified as any pair of components having a computed proximity that is less than a margin for the pair of components. Each identified collision is displayed on a display (12), e.g. as a rendering. The simulations or planning may be used to verify deliverability of arc, 4Pi, or static therapy, to determine safety margins for collisions, to calculate and display realizable trajectories, and so forth.

A radiation therapy medical apparatus is disclosed. The medical apparatus comprises: a base; a cylindrical gantry, peripherally and rotatably supported by the base; a radiation therapy assembly, comprising an arm and a radiation head, wherein one end of the arm is fixed to a first position on a first side of the gantry and the other end thereof is extended outwardly, and the radiation head is fixed to the other end of the arm; an imaging assembly, mounted to a second side of the gantry opposite to the first side, and configured to be a first balanced weight part for balancing the radiation therapy assembly; and a counterbalance, fixed to the second side of the gantry, and configured to cooperate with the imaging assembly to prevent the gantry from turnover under action of the radiation therapy assembly and configured to dynamically balance with the radiation therapy assembly with respect to a rotation axis of the gantry.

A radiotherapy system, comprising: a patient support, a radiation beam generator, a gantry on which the radiation beam generator is mounted, the gantry being moveable so as to rotate the radiation beam generator around the patient support, and a control system including a real-time control system mounted on the gantry and configured to provide real-time control signals to the patient support, the radiation beam generator, and the gantry.

An image guiding device includes a gantry, an imaging source, an imager, and an image server. The imaging source, the imager and the image server are all mounted on the gantry. The imager is connected to the image server. The imaging source is arranged to face the imager. The imaging source emits X-rays. The imager receives X-rays passing through an affected part of a patient, generates projection data based on the received X-rays, and sends the projection data to the image server. The image server processes the projection data to obtain an image of the affected part.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for guiding the delivery of therapeutic radiation using incomplete or partial images acquired during a treatment session. A partial image does not have enough information to determine the location of a target region due to, for example, poor or low contrast and/or low SNR. The radiation fluence calculation methods described herein do not require knowledge or calculation of the target location, and yet may help to provide real-time image guided radiation therapy using arbitrarily low SNR images.

A Cherenkov-based or thin-sheet scintillator-based imaging system uses a radio-optical triggering unit (RTU) that detects scattered radiation in a fast-response scintillator to detect pulses of radiation to permit capture of Cherenkov-light or scintillator-light images during pulses of radiation and background images at times when pulses of radiation are not present without need for electrical interface to the accelerator that provides the pulses of radiation. The Cherenkov images are corrected by background subtraction and used for purposes including optimization of treatment, commissioning, routine quality auditing, R&D, and manufacture. The radio-optical triggering unit employs high-speed, highly sensitive radio-optical sensing to generate a digital timing signal which is synchronous with the treatment beam for use in triggering Cherenkov light or scintillator light imaging.

This application relates to methods for delivering radiation to a positron-emitting target within a subject under continuous PET guidance. Instead of directing radiation at a collinear path along each detected positron line-of-response (LOR), the methods generally include detecting a pattern of LORs that intersect the target. In response to the pattern, radiation may be delivered along paths that are not necessarily collinear to any of the LORs. Methods for further modifying radiation delivery as well as the detected LOR population are also described.

An apparatus comprising a radiation source, coincident positron omission detectors configured to detect coincident positron annihilation emissions originating within a coordinate system, and a controller coupled to the radiation source and the coincident positron emission detectors, the controller configured to identify coincident positron annihilation emission paths intersecting one or more volumes in the coordinate system and align the radiation source along an identified coincident positron annihilation emission path.

Presented systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective generation and delivery of radiation. In one embodiment, a radiation system includes a patient station, wherein the patient station includes a plurality of accelerator systems, and a microwave generation system configured to generate microwaves for the plurality of accelerators. The plurality of accelerators can be configured to provide substantially simultaneous multiple radiation beams from the plurality of accelerators. In one exemplary implementation, the microwave generation system includes a plurality of radio frequency (RF) sources, wherein respective ones of the plurality of RF sources generate separate microwave signals for corresponding respective ones of the plurality of accelerator systems, and a plurality of modulators, wherein respective ones of the plurality of modulators modulate generation of the separate microwave signals by the respective ones of the plurality of RF sources. The respective ones of the plurality of RF sources and plurality of modulators can be included in a respective plurality of RF chains, wherein respective ones of the plurality of RF chains include a respective circulator and dose rate servo. Multiple radiation beams from the respective plurality of accelerator systems are configured to be transmitted from different orientations.