A system for treating a patient during radiation therapy includes range compensators. Each of the range compensators shapes a distribution of a dose delivered to the patient by a beam emitted from a nozzle of a radiation treatment system. A positioning component holds the range compensator in place relative to the patient such that the range compensator lies on a path of the beam.

Systems and methods are provided for designing and/or modifying a radiation therapy bolus for the reduction of hot spots. A digital bolus model may be modified based on the identification of a peak in the outer surface of the digital bolus model, where the peak satisfies search criteria associated with the generation of a hot spot through scattering from the peak. The digital bolus model is modified within a region surrounding the peak to smooth the peak and thereby reduce the intensity of the hot spot. The modified digital bolus model may be employed to fabricate a bolus for use in radiation therapy. The search criteria may be evaluated according to a proximity between a location measure associated with the peak and a location measure associated with the hot spot, optionally when the location measures are projected in a reference plane that resides perpendicular to the beam axis.

Systems for immobilizing a patient are disclosed. The system includes at least one preform formed from a low melting temperature thermoplastic, the preform being configured to be formed to the anatomy of the patient, at least one frame coupled to the at least one preform, and at least one support configured to support the anatomy of the patient. The system also includes at least one lock mechanism coupled to at least one of the frame and the support and configured to couple the at least one frame to the at least one support, and at least one adjuster mechanism coupled to at least one of the at least one frame and the at least one support and configured to selectively adjust a distance between the at least one frame and the at least one support while the at least one frame is coupled to the at least one support.

Systems for immobilizing a patient are disclosed. The system includes at least one preform formed from a low melting temperature thermoplastic, the preform being configured to be formed to the anatomy of the patient, at least one frame coupled to the at least one preform, and at least one support configured to support the anatomy of the patient. The system also includes at least one lock mechanism coupled to at least one of the frame and the support and configured to couple the at least one frame to the at least one support, and at least one adjuster mechanism coupled to at least one of the at least one frame and the at least one support and configured to selectively adjust a distance between the at least one frame and the at least one support while the at least one frame is coupled to the at least one support.

A minimally invasive neutron beam generating device is provided. The minimally invasive neutron beam generating device includes a proton accelerator, a target, and a neutron moderator. The proton accelerator is connected to a first channel, the target is located at one end of the first channel, and the neutron moderator covers the end of the first channel so that the target is embedded in the neutron moderator. In addition, the neutron moderator includes an accommodating element for accommodating a moderating substance, and the accommodating element is retractable.

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage devices for manufacturing patient-specific bolus for use in targeted radiotherapy treatment. Based on dose calculations without a bolus and based on three-dimensional scan data of a patient, the example system generates a model of a bolus for targeting radiotherapy treatment to a planning target volume or target region within the patient. The system can perform several iterations to generate a resulting model for the bolus. Then, the system can generate instructions for controlling a three-dimensional printer to generate the bolus that conforms to the patient's skin surface while also specifically targeting the planning target volume for the radiotherapy treatment. In this way, the amount of radiotherapy treatment administered to other tissue is reduced, while the costs, time, and human involvement in creating the bolus are significantly reduced.

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.

The present invention includes new medical techniques involving radiation and electromagnetic actuation of reagents deployed and directed within bodily fluids (e.g., the bloodstream, digestive tract, or lymph ducts) of a patient. In one aspect of the invention, a medical reagent and/or particle is provided with multiple dipoles, oriented differently in three-dimensional space, allowing a remote control system to drive the acceleration and three-dimensional orientation of the medical agent or particle according to a three-dimensional path. In some embodiments, the medical reagent and/or particle is energized remotely to an activation energy level, and then driven into the treatment target. The design of each small-scale machine may include different sub-devices and electrostatic charges or magnetic dipoles, at different surface or internal locations. In some aspects, the sub-devices include actuable housings and other sub-devices, to deliver drugs or other factors at specific locations commanded by the control system or a user.

Systems for immobilizing a patient are disclosed. The system includes at least one preform formed from a low melting temperature thermoplastic, so that the preform may be formed to the anatomy of the patient, at least one frame coupled to the at least one preform, and at least one support to support the anatomy of the patient. The system also includes at least one lock mechanism coupled to at least one of the frame and the support in order to couple the at least one frame to the at least one support, and at least one adjuster mechanism coupled to at least one of the at least one frame and the at least one support in order to selectively adjust a distance between the at least one frame and the at least one support while the at least one frame is coupled to the at least one support.

A method for creating or evaluating a radiation shield for a radiation therapy treatment can include receiving, using one or more computing devices, three-dimensional (3D) imaging data, generating, using the one or more computing devices, a 3D volume of a portion of patient from the 3D imaging data, determining, using the one or more computing devices, a region of interest for receiving radiation therapy for the 3D volume of the portion of the patient, generating, using the one or more computing devices, a 3D model of a radiation shield from the 3D volume of the portion of the patient and the region of interest, the 3D model having an inner surface that contours an exterior surface of the 3D volume, and causing, using the one or more computing devices, a 3D printer to construct a radiation shield from the 3D model of the radiation shield.