A treatment planning apparatus includes an overall data management unit for storing a target irradiation dose distribution to be formed in an irradiation object, a broad irradiation parameter calculation unit and a scanning irradiation parameter calculation unit for cooperatively calculating and determining operational parameters for devices, such as an accelerator and an irradiation nozzle, to operate during a broad irradiation and an scanning irradiation, respectively, so that the sum of irradiation doses imparted by both broad irradiation and scanning irradiation forms the target irradiation dose distribution.

New techniques for remote administration of medicine and medical devices using an external guidance and activation system are provided. In some embodiments, medicine(s) and/or medical device(s) is/are energized to a predetermined threshold energy level by externally applied radiation, and then driven into the treatment target. The design of such device(s) (e.g., injectable machine(s)) may include sub-device(s), e.g., medical payload-carrying reservoir(s), injector(s) and abrasive tool(s), which may be activated magnetically and/or by such radiation. In some aspects, such sub-device(s) include actuable housing(s) and/or other sub-tool(s), delivering drugs to specific locations commanded by a control system or a user. In other aspects, a medicine and/or device is provided with multiple dipoles, each oriented differently in three-dimensional space, allowing a guidance control system, remote from the medicine or device, to drive the movement and three-dimensional orientation of the medical agent or particle according to a three-dimensional path.

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.

A system for treating a patient during radiation therapy is disclosed. The system includes a shell, a plurality of material inserts disposed in the shell, where each material insert of the plurality of material inserts respectively shapes a distribution of a dose delivered to the patient by a respective beam of a plurality of beams emitted from a nozzle of a radiation treatment system, and a scaffold component disposed in the shell that holds the plurality material inserts in place relative to the patient such that each material insert lies on a path of at least one of the beams.

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.

A particle beam radiotherapy system has been proposed by using a set of first and second scatterers, whereby a short-duration pulse beam is irradiated to a lesion. When the duration of the radiotherapy beam is 200 milliseconds or less, healthy tissues are selectively protected and only cancer tissues are damaged. For example, it can be used for cancer treatment of brain metastases that may be distributed throughout the entire brain tissues. The positions of the scatterers and the energy of the incident particle beams are optimized according to the position and the volume of the brain tissues.

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.

A method for beam therapy is provided. The method includes receiving first data indicating a plurality of target volumes within a target region inside a subject for particle beam therapy relative to a particle beam outlet on a gantry for directing a particle beam from a particle beam source. The method further includes moving automatically, one or more energy modulator components to reduce an energy of the particle beam and deliver the particle beam to the target region such that a Bragg Peak is delivered to at least one target volume of the plurality of target volumes. The method further includes repeating the moving automatically as the particle beam source rotates with the gantry around the subject, without changing the energy of the particle beam at the particle beam outlet, until every target volume is subjected to a Bragg Peak.

Provided are a method and apparatus for manufacturing a radiation beam intensity modulator. The method includes: obtaining dose modulation information expressed as a density matrix or three-dimensional (3D) structure information provided from a radiotherapy treatment planning system; obtaining design condition information of a radiation beam intensity modulator provided from the radiotherapy treatment planning system; generating a radiation beam intensity modulator structure based on the design condition information of the radiation beam intensity modulator and the dose modulation information expressed as the density matrix or the 3D structure information; adjusting the radiation beam intensity modulator structure by comparing at least one of an actual manufacturing condition and a treatment condition with the design condition information of the radiation beam intensity modulator; and manufacturing the radiation beam intensity modulator based on the radiation beam intensity modulator structure that is adjusted.

A system for treating a patient during radiation therapy is disclosed. The system includes a shell, a plurality of material inserts disposed in the shell, where each material insert of the plurality of material inserts respectively shapes a distribution of a dose delivered to the patient by a respective beam of a plurality of beams emitted from a nozzle of a radiation treatment system, and a scaffold component disposed in the shell that holds the plurality material inserts in place relative to the patient such that each material insert lies on a path of at least one of the beams.