A radiation therapy system comprising a therapeutic radiation system (e.g., an MV X-ray source, and/or a linac) and a co-planar imaging system (e.g., a kV X-ray system) on a fast rotating ring gantry frame. The therapeutic radiation system and the imaging system are separated by a gantry angle, and the gantry frame may rotate in a direction such that the imaging system leads the MV system. The radiation sources of both the therapeutic and imaging radiation systems are each collimated by a dynamic multi-leaf collimator (DMLC) disposed in the beam path of the MV X-ray source and the kV X-ray source, respectively. In one variation, the imaging system identifies patient tumor(s) positions in real-time. The DMLC for the imaging radiation source limits the kV X-ray beam spread to the tumor(s) and/or immediate tumor regions, and helps to reduce irradiation of healthy tissue (e.g., reduce the dose-area product).

Techniques for closed-loop feedback beam control in particle therapy delivery system can include receiving treatment plan beam parameters, receiving a determined output beam current of a present spot, generating an adjusted source beam current set point based on the treatment plan beam parameters and the determined output beam current of the present spot, and adjusting an output beam current of the present spot based on the adjusted source beam current.

An inverse-planning method (100), by which a treatment plan specifying a non-photon irradiation of a patient including a target volume is generated, comprises: obtaining (110, 112) first and second plan goals in terms of a respective first and second numerical condition on the treatment plan’s photon-equivalent dose as computed using a first and second RBE factor; and generating (114) the treatment plan by an optimization process aiming to satisfy the first, second and any further plan goals, wherein (a) the first and second plan goals apply to volumes which either are included in the TV or are completely or partially separate from the TV and/or (b) the first and second RBE factors are variable. In a further aspect, a data carrier provides a treatment plan with these characteristics together with reporting quantities relating to fulfilment of the first and second plan goals.

A computing system comprising a central processing unit (CPU), and memory coupled to the CPU and having stored therein instructions that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to execute operations to generate a radiation treatment plan. The operations include accessing a minimum prescribed dose to be delivered into and across the target, determining a number of beams and directions of the beams, and determining a beam energy for each of the beams, wherein the number of beams, the directions of the beams, and the beam energy for each of the beams are determined such that the entire target receives the minimum prescribed dose. The operations further include prescribing a dose rate and optimizing dose rate constraints for FLASH therapy, and displaying a dose rate map of the FLASH therapy.

The present disclosure offers therapeutic solutions to cancer patients up to now considered as unable to undergo a standard-of-care treatment involving radiotherapy or at high risk to undergo a standard-of-care treatment involving radiotherapy. The disclosure relates to nanoparticles and/or aggregates of nanoparticles for use in the treatment of cancer in such a patient, wherein the nanoparticles and/or aggregates of nanoparticles preferably comprise more than 30% by weight of at least one chemical element having an atomic number (Z) between 20 and 83. The disclosed treatments involve a step of administering the nanoparticles and/or aggregates of nanoparticles to the patient, and a step of exposing the patient to a total dose of ionizing radiations that is equal to or less than 85% of the total dose delivered in the standard-of-care treatment. The present description also discloses new compositions comprising such nanoparticles and/or aggregates of nanoparticles as well as uses thereof.

A compensating device for use in ion-based radiotherapy may comprise a disk with a number of protrusions may be placed in a radiation beam to affect the ions in the beam in different ways to create an irradiation field from a broad beam. This is particularly useful in FLASH therapy because of the limited time available or modulating the beam. A method of designing such a compensating device is proposed, comprising the steps of obtaining characteristics of an actual treatment plan comprising at least one beam, determining at least one parameter characteristic of the desired energy modulation of the actual plan by performing a dose calculation of the initial plan and, based on the at least one parameter, computing a shape for each of the plurality of elongated elements to modulate the dose of the delivery beam to mimic the dose of the initial plan per beam.

Presented systems and methods enable efficient and effective robust radiation treatment planning and treatment, including analysis of dose rate robustness. In one embodiment, a method comprising accessing treatment plan information, accessing information corresponding to an uncertainty associated with implementation of the radiation treatment plan, and generating a histogram, wherein the histogram conveys a characteristic of the treatment plan including an impact of the uncertainty on the characteristic. The histogram can be a dose rate volume histogram and can be utilized to test a degree of robustness of a treatment plan (e.g., including allowance for uncertainty scenarios, etc.). The uncertainty can be associated with potential variation associated with tolerances (e.g., radiation system/machine performance tolerance, patient characteristic tolerances, etc.) and set up issues (e.g., variation in initial system/machine set up, variation patient setup/position, etc.)

A device for implanting radiotherapy seeds in a tumor. The device includes a delivery tube having a distal end designed to enter the tumor, and defining an internal channel and an elongate applicator carrying one or more radiotherapy seeds each having a length of at least 1 millimeter, the applicator passing through the internal channel of the delivery tube. When a distal end of the elongate applicator is near a distal end of the delivery tube, it assumes an angle relative to an axis of the delivery tube, such that seeds ejected from the elongate applicator enter the tumor at an angle relative to the axis of the delivery tube.

The dose rate of voxels within a particle beam (e.g., proton beam) treatment field delivered using pencil beam scanning (PBS) is calculated, and a representative dose rate for the particle beam treatment field is reported. The calculations account for a dose accumulation in a local region or a sub-volume (e.g., a voxel) as a function of time.

Information associated with a radiation treatment plan includes, for example, values of dose per voxel in a target volume, values of dose rate per voxel in the target volume, and values of parameters used when generating the values of dose per voxel and the values of dose rate per voxel. Renderings that include, for example, a rendering of an image of or including the target volume, and a rendering of selected values of the radiation treatment plan, are displayed. When a selection of a region of one of the renderings is received, a displayed characteristic of another one of the renderings is changed based on the selection.