阅读说明：本技术 准直器的叶片优化方法、放射治疗计划转换方法和系统 (Leaf optimization method of collimator, radiation treatment plan conversion method and system ) 是由 文理斌 薛万冬 刘艳芳 于 2021-10-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：本说明书涉及准直器的叶片优化方法、放射治疗计划转换方法和系统,所述方法包括：获取多叶准直器的叶片排布,多叶准直器包括至少两个叶片层,每一个叶片层包括至少一个真实叶片；根据多叶准直器的叶片排布确定对应的至少两个参考叶片,至少两个参考叶片对应的至少两个投影区域无重叠；基于至少两个参考叶片进行叶片优化,以确定至少两个叶片层中的各真实叶片对应的目标叶片位置。还可以包括基于第一准直器与第二准直器之间的叶片位置关联关系,将第一放射治疗计划修改为等效的第二放射治疗计划,第一放射治疗计划对应的第一准直器和第二放射治疗计划对应的第二准直器中的一个包含至少两个叶片层,另一个为单个叶片层。(The present specification relates to a leaf optimization method of a collimator, a radiation therapy plan conversion method and a system, the method comprises: acquiring the leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator, wherein the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf; determining at least two corresponding reference blades according to the blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator, wherein at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference blades are not overlapped; and performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers. The method can further comprise modifying the first radiation treatment plan into an equivalent second radiation treatment plan based on the leaf position correlation between the first collimator and the second collimator, wherein one of the first collimator corresponding to the first radiation treatment plan and the second collimator corresponding to the second radiation treatment plan comprises at least two leaf layers, and the other leaf layer is a single leaf layer.)

1. A method of leaf optimization for a collimator, comprising:

acquiring a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator, wherein the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf;

determining at least two corresponding reference blades according to the blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator, wherein at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference blades are not overlapped;

and performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

2. The method of claim 1, the determining corresponding at least two reference leaves from the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator comprising:

determining an overlap relationship between at least two real blades in the at least two blade layers, and determining the corresponding at least two reference blades based on the overlap relationship.

3. The method of claim 2, the determining the corresponding at least two reference blades based on the overlap relationship comprising:

and dividing at least two real blades in the at least two blade layers into corresponding at least two reference blades based on the overlapping relation, wherein the blade position with the minimum offset in the blade extending direction of at least one real blade arranged along the layer arrangement direction is determined as the reference blade position of the corresponding reference blade in the blade extending direction.

4. The method of claim 1, the determining corresponding at least two reference leaves from the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator comprising:

determining the blade boundary positions of at least two real blades in the blade arrangement direction in the at least two blade layers;

determining the corresponding at least two reference blades based on the blade boundary positions; and the two adjacent blade boundary positions of the real blade in the blade arrangement direction correspond to two reference blade boundary positions of one reference blade in the blade arrangement direction.

5. The method of claim 2 or 4, the determining corresponding at least two reference leaves from the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator further comprising:

determining the blade position of the at least two real blades of the at least two blade layers in the blade extension direction;

determining reference vane positions of the corresponding at least two reference vanes in the vane extension direction based on the vane positions; wherein the reference field formed by the at least two reference leaves is the same shape as the real field formed by the at least two real leaves of the at least two leaf layers.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine the target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers comprises:

determining a target radiation amount;

determining the blade position incidence relation between the at least two reference blades and each real blade of the at least two corresponding blade layers;

and determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the position association relation, so that the difference between the estimated radiation amount corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers and the target radiation amount is minimized or reaches a preset threshold value.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the association relationship such that the difference between the predicted radiation dose and the target radiation dose corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers is minimized or reaches a preset threshold comprises:

optimizing the blade position of each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the position relation so as to determine the target blade position corresponding to each real blade.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the association relationship such that the difference between the predicted radiation dose and the target radiation dose corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers is minimized or reaches a preset threshold comprises:

determining at least two reference target positions corresponding to the at least two reference blades so that the difference between the estimated radiation amount corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers and the target radiation amount is minimized or reaches a preset threshold value;

and determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade based on the at least two reference target positions and the blade position incidence relation.

9. A blade optimization system for a collimator includes

The system comprises a first acquisition module, a second acquisition module and a third acquisition module, wherein the first acquisition module is used for acquiring the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf;

a first determining module, configured to determine at least two corresponding reference leaves according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, where at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference leaves do not overlap;

and the second determining module is used for performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades so as to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

10. An apparatus for leaf optimization of a collimator, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory device, the memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, implement the method of any of claims 1-8.

11. A radiation treatment plan conversion method, comprising:

acquiring a first radiation treatment plan, wherein the first radiation treatment plan corresponds to a first collimator;

modifying the first radiation treatment plan into an equivalent second radiation treatment plan based on a leaf position correlation between the first collimator and a second collimator, the second radiation treatment plan corresponding to the second collimator,

wherein one of the first collimator and the second collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, the other being a single leaf layer.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of medical equipment technologies, and in particular, to a method for optimizing leaves of a collimator, a method and a system for transforming a radiation therapy plan.

Background

In medical scanning apparatuses or medical radiology apparatuses (e.g., Computed Radiography (CR), Digital Radiography (DR), Computed Tomography (CT), X-ray therapy machines, cobalt-60 therapy machines, etc.), the primary function of the collimator is to block excess radiation to enable radiation to be directed to a desired target area (e.g., a diseased region of a patient's organ). One or more leaves may be included in the collimator, which may form a field/radiation region. In practical use of the collimator, the position of one or more leaves of the collimator can be optimized so that the field/radiation area formed by the one or more leaves coincides with the desired target area.

Therefore, a method and a system for optimizing the leaves of a collimator are needed to optimize the leaf positions of the collimator.

Disclosure of Invention

One of the embodiments of the present specification provides a method for optimizing a blade of a collimator, the method including: acquiring a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator, wherein the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf; determining at least two corresponding reference blades according to the blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator, wherein at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference blades are not overlapped; and performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

One of the embodiments of the present specification provides a blade optimization system of a collimator, the system including: the system comprises a first acquisition module, a second acquisition module and a third acquisition module, wherein the first acquisition module is used for acquiring the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf; a first determining module, configured to determine at least two corresponding reference leaves according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, where at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference leaves do not overlap; and the second determining module is used for performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades so as to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

One of the embodiments of the present specification provides a leaf optimization apparatus for a collimator, the apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one storage device, the storage device is configured to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, a leaf optimization method for the collimator is implemented.

One of the embodiments of the present specification provides a radiation therapy plan conversion method, including: acquiring a first radiation treatment plan, wherein the first radiation treatment plan corresponds to a first collimator; and modifying the first radiation treatment plan into an equivalent second radiation treatment plan based on the blade position association relationship between the first collimator and the second collimator, wherein the second radiation treatment plan corresponds to the second collimator, one of the first collimator and the second collimator comprises at least two blade layers, and the other one is a single blade layer.

Drawings

The present description will be further explained by way of exemplary embodiments, which will be described in detail by way of the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are not intended to be limiting, and in these embodiments like numerals are used to indicate like structures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a leaf optimization system of a collimator according to some embodiments herein;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a leaf optimization system of a collimator according to some embodiments described herein;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of leaf optimization of a collimator according to some embodiments described herein;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of at least two blade layers and at least two reference blades shown in accordance with some embodiments herein;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method of determining a target blade position for each real blade in at least two blade layers according to some embodiments shown herein;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system for collimator blade conversion in accordance with certain embodiments herein.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only examples or embodiments of the present description, and that for a person skilled in the art, the present description can also be applied to other similar scenarios on the basis of these drawings without inventive effort. Unless otherwise apparent from the context, or otherwise indicated, like reference numbers in the figures refer to the same structure or operation.

It should be understood that "system", "device", "unit" and/or "module" as used herein is a method for distinguishing different components, elements, parts, portions or assemblies at different levels. However, other words may be substituted by other expressions if they accomplish the same purpose.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not intended to be inclusive in the singular, but rather are intended to be inclusive in the plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that steps and elements are included which are explicitly identified, that the steps and elements do not form an exclusive list, and that a method or apparatus may include other steps or elements.

Flow charts are used in this description to illustrate operations performed by a system according to embodiments of the present description. It should be understood that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed in the exact order in which they are performed. Rather, the various steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Meanwhile, other operations may be added to the processes, or a certain step or several steps of operations may be removed from the processes.

The method for optimizing the blades of the collimator disclosed in the present specification can be applied to various devices configured with the collimator, such as medical scanning devices including, but not limited to, one or any combination of a Computer Radiography (CR), a Digital Radiography (DR), a Computed Tomography (CT), a flat-film X-ray machine, a mobile X-ray device (such as a mobile C-arm machine), an Emission Computed Tomography (ECT), and the like, and also, for example, various medical radiation devices including, but not limited to, one or any combination of an X-ray treatment machine, a cobalt-60 treatment machine, a medical accelerator, and the like.

A collimator comprising a plurality of leaves may be referred to as a Multi-leaf collimator (MLC). A multi-leaf collimator comprising multiple leaf layers (e.g. two layers, three layers, etc.) may be referred to as a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator, and a multi-leaf collimator comprising a single leaf layer may be referred to as a single-layer multi-leaf collimator. For more details about the collimator, reference may be made to fig. 3 and its associated description.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method for converting collimator blades, which may obtain a blade arrangement of a collimator, and perform equivalent conversion between at least two blade layers and at least two blades according to the blade arrangement, where at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two blades do not overlap.

For example, in some embodiments, it is desirable to convert the multiple leaf layers of the multi-layered multi-leaf collimator into an equivalent at least two leaves, and the at least two leaves can form a single leaf layer to form the same field/radiation area as the field/radiation area formed by the multiple leaf layers by the equivalent single leaf layer. The leaf arrangement of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator can be obtained, the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and at least two corresponding reference leaves are determined according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator, at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference leaves are not overlapped, and the at least two reference leaves can form a single leaf layer equivalent to the at least two leaf layers. For more details of determining the corresponding at least two reference leaves according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, refer to fig. 3 and the related description thereof.

For another example, in some embodiments, in order to adjust the field more finely, more diversely, or otherwise where a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator is required, it is necessary to convert a single leaf layer of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator to an equivalent of at least two leaf layers to form the same field/radiation area as that formed by the single leaf layer by the equivalent of at least two leaf layers. The leaf arrangement of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator can be obtained, wherein the single-layer multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two projection areas corresponding to at least two leaves without overlapping, and the corresponding at least two leaf layers are determined according to the leaf arrangement of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator. Determining the corresponding at least two leaf layers according to the leaf arrangement of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator may include: a plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers are determined by deduction from the at least two blades of the single blade layer based on blade position association relations between the at least two blades (e.g., at least two reference blades) of the single blade layer and the corresponding blades (e.g., real blades) of the at least two blade layers. For more details of deriving and determining a plurality of blades (e.g., a plurality of real blades of at least two blade layers) of at least two blade layers from the blade arrangement of at least two blades (e.g., at least two reference blades) of a single blade layer based on the position correlation relationship, refer to fig. 3 and the related description thereof.

In some embodiments, equivalent transformation of the radiation treatment plan can be achieved by equivalent transformation of the leaves of the multi-layered multi-leaf collimator and the single-layered multi-leaf collimator, in which case the reference leaves can be solid leaves (also called true leaves). For example, a first radiation treatment plan is acquired, the first radiation treatment plan corresponding to a first collimator; and modifying the first radiation treatment plan into an equivalent second radiation treatment plan based on the blade position association relationship between the first collimator and the second collimator, wherein the second radiation treatment plan corresponds to the second collimator, one of the first collimator and the second collimator comprises at least two blade layers, and the other one is a single blade layer. The radiotherapy plan refers to a plan and a schedule made according to radiotherapy target areas and organ and tissue areas needing to be protected for radiotherapy related factors such as radiotherapy dose, radiation fields, collimators and other radiotherapy used devices and equipment. In some embodiments, the present description provides a radiation treatment plan conversion method, which may first determine a collimator of a first radiation treatment plan; according to the collimator leaf conversion method described in some embodiments of the present specification, collimator leaves of a collimator of a first radiation treatment plan are equivalently converted to obtain converted collimator leaves, and then a second radiation treatment plan equivalent to the first radiation treatment plan is obtained based on the converted collimator leaves. The equivalence of the first radiation therapy plan and the second radiation therapy plan may mean that the radiation therapy radiation fields, the radiation therapy dose, the radiation therapy effect, and the like of the first radiation therapy plan and the second radiation therapy plan are the same. For example, a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator is used in the first radiation treatment plan, and according to the method for converting the collimator leaves described in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator can be equivalently converted into a single-layer multi-leaf collimator, so as to determine a second radiation treatment plan which is equivalent to the first radiation treatment plan and uses the single-layer multi-leaf collimator. For another example, a single-layer multi-leaf collimator is used in the first radiation treatment plan, and according to the method for converting collimator leaves described in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the single-layer multi-leaf collimator can be equivalently converted into a multi-layer multi-leaf collimator, so as to determine a second radiation treatment plan using the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator equivalent to the first radiation treatment plan.

In some embodiments, through equivalent transformation of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator and the single-layer multi-leaf collimator leaves, optimization of leaf positions of the multi-layer leaves based on the single-layer leaves can be realized so as to realize optimization of a radiation treatment plan. In this case, the reference blade may be a virtual blade. In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method for optimizing leaves of a collimator, by which a target leaf position (e.g., a target leaf position in a leaf extending direction) of a plurality of leaves (e.g., a plurality of leaves of a plurality of leaf layers) of the collimator may be determined to optimize/adjust the plurality of leaves (e.g., a plurality of leaves of the plurality of leaf layers) of the collimator, and then a field/radiation area formed by the plurality of leaves of the collimator may be optimized/adjusted, so that the field/radiation area formed by the plurality of optimized leaves (e.g., a plurality of leaves of the plurality of leaf layers) and the target area (e.g., a lesion area of a human organ) of an irradiated object are the same or a difference between the field/radiation area formed by the plurality of leaves (e.g., a plurality of leaves of the plurality of leaf layers) and the lesion area (e.g., a lesion area of a human organ) of the irradiated object is reduced. Furthermore, the optimized collimator blades can accurately irradiate the target area (such as medical radiotherapy irradiation), and simultaneously, the radiation influence on other areas except the target area is avoided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a leaf optimization system of a collimator according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the leaf optimization system 100 of the collimator can perform leaf optimization/adjustment of the collimator based on the leaf optimization method of the collimator disclosed herein.

As shown in fig. 1, the leaf optimization system 100 of the collimator may include a radiation or scanning apparatus 110, a network 120, a terminal 130, a processing device 140, and a storage device 150.

The radiation or scanning device 110 may scan a target object and acquire corresponding scan signals, or may irradiate a target object with radiation. The radiation or scanning device 110 may include a gantry, an emitter device, a collimator, etc. (none of which are shown). The radiation or scanning device 110 may include, but is not limited to, one or a combination of one or more of a computed tomography (CR), a Digital Radiography (DR), a Computed Tomography (CT), a flat-film X-ray machine, a mobile X-ray apparatus (such as a mobile C-arm machine), an Emission Computed Tomography (ECT), an X-ray therapy machine, a cobalt-60 therapy machine, a medical accelerator, and the like, or any combination thereof, a Computed Tomography (CT), a Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), a Thermal Tomography (TTM), a Medical Electronic Endoscope (MEE), and the like. In some embodiments, the gantry may have a scanning cavity defined therein, the scanning cavity may be used for accommodating a scanning object (e.g., a patient), and the scanning cavity may be circular, elliptical, polygonal, or the like. The emitting device (e.g., a bulb) may be used to emit radiation or signals, which may include X-rays, gamma rays, beta rays, and the like. A collimator may be used to collimate the radiation to enable radiation to be directed to a desired target area (e.g., a diseased region of a patient's organ). The collimation may comprise adjusting a width and/or a direction of a fan-beam of the radiation. In some embodiments, the collimator may include a plurality of blades (e.g., a plurality of blades of at least two blade layers) that may form a field/radiation region through which radiation may pass to reach the scan object.

The terminal 130 may include a mobile device 131, a tablet computer 132, a notebook computer 133, and the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the terminal 130 may interact with other components in the blade optimization system 100 of collimators through a network. For example, the terminal 130 may send one or more control instructions to the irradiation or scanning device 110 to control the irradiation or scanning device 110 to perform irradiation or scanning as instructed. For another example, the terminal 130 may send one or more control instructions to the radiation or scanning device 110 to control the radiation or scanning device 110 to drive the real blade according to the instructions to move the real blade to the target blade position (e.g., the target blade position in the blade extending direction). For another example, the terminal 130 may also receive processing results of the processing device 140, such as the determined plurality of reference blades, reference target positions, target blade positions, and the like. In some embodiments, the mobile device 131 may include smart home devices, wearable devices, mobile devices, virtual reality devices, augmented reality devices, and the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the smart home devices may include smart lighting devices, smart appliance control devices, smart monitoring devices, smart televisions, smart cameras, interphones, and the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wearable device may include a bracelet, footwear, glasses, helmet, watch, clothing, backpack, smart accessory, and the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mobile device may comprise a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a gaming device, a navigation device, a POS device, a laptop, a tablet, a desktop, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the virtual reality device and/or augmented reality device may include a virtual reality helmet, virtual reality glasses, a virtual reality patch, an augmented reality helmet, augmented reality glasses, an augmented reality patch, and the like, or any combination thereof.For example, the virtual reality device and/or augmented reality device may include a Google Glass^TM、Oculus Rift^TM、HoloLens^TMOr Gear VR^TMAnd the like. In some embodiments, the terminal 130 may be part of the processing device 140.

In some embodiments, the processing device 140 may process data and/or information obtained from the radiation or scanning apparatus 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150. For example, the processing device 140 may process the acquired leaf information (e.g., leaf arrangement) of the radiation or collimator in the scanning apparatus 110 to determine a plurality of reference leaves. For another example, the processing device 140 may optimize the leaves of the collimator (e.g., a plurality of real leaves of the at least two leaf layers) to determine a target leaf position for each real leaf of the at least two leaf layers. As another example, the processing device 140 may control the real leaf of the collimator to move to the target leaf position. As another example, the processing device 140 may control the radiation source (not shown in fig. 1) and the detector (not shown in fig. 1) to scan or irradiate a radiation field/radiation area formed by the leaves (e.g., a plurality of real leaves of at least two layers) of the collimator. As another example, the processing device 140 may implement an equivalent transformation of the radiation treatment plan by a transformation method of the collimator leaves. In some embodiments, the processing device 140 may include a single server or a group of servers. The server group may be centralized or distributed. In some embodiments, the processing device 140 may be local or remote. For example, the processing device 140 may access information and/or data from the radiation or scanning apparatus 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150 via the network 120. As another example, the processing device 140 may be directly connected to the irradiation or scanning apparatus 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150 to access information and/or data. In some embodiments, the processing device 140 may be implemented on a cloud platform. For example, the cloud platform may include one or a combination of private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, community cloud, distributed cloud, cross-cloud, multi-cloud, and the like.

The storage device 150 may store data (e.g., actual blade positions, reference blade positions for reference blades, reference target positions, target blade positions, etc.), instructions, and/or any other information. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data obtained from the radiation or scanning apparatus 110, the terminal 130, and/or the processing device 140, for example, the storage device 150 may store actual blade position data obtained from the radiation or scanning apparatus 110. In some embodiments, storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions for execution or use by processing device 140 to perform the example methods described herein. For example, the storage device 150 may store data of a plurality of reference blades determined based on the blade arrangement of the collimator. As another example, the storage device 150 may also store the reference target position and the target blade position calculated by the optimization. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may include one or a combination of mass storage, removable storage, volatile read-write memory, read-only memory (ROM), and the like. Mass storage may include magnetic disks, optical disks, solid state drives, removable storage, and the like. The removable memory may include a flash drive, floppy disk, optical disk, memory card, ZIP disk, magnetic tape, or the like. The volatile read and write memory may include Random Access Memory (RAM). The RAM may include Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR-SDRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), silicon controlled random access memory (T-RAM), zero capacitance random access memory (Z-RAM), and the like. The ROM may include mask read-only memory (MROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs, and the like. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be implemented by a cloud platform as described herein. For example, the cloud platform may include one or a combination of private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, community cloud, distributed cloud, cross-cloud, multi-cloud, and the like.

In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be connected to the network 120 to enable communication with one or more components (e.g., processing device 140, terminal 130, etc.) in the blade optimization system 100 of the collimator. One or more components in the leaf optimization system 100 of the collimator may read data or instructions in the storage device 150 through the network 120. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be part of the processing device 140, or may be separate and connected directly or indirectly to the processing device 140.

The network 120 may comprise any suitable network capable of facilitating Information and/or data exchange for the collimator's leaf optimization system 100, and may also be part of or connected to a hospital network HIS (hospital Information system) or PACS (picture archiving and communication systems) or other hospital networks, although independent therefrom. In some embodiments, one or more components of the leaf optimization system 100 of the collimator (e.g., the radiation or scanning apparatus 110, the terminal 130, the processing device 140, the storage device 150, etc.) may exchange information and/or data with one or more components of the leaf optimization system 100 of the collimator via the network 120. For example, processing device 140 may obtain planning data from a data processing planning system via network 120. The network 120 may include one or more of a public network (e.g., the internet), a private network (e.g., a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN)), etc.), a wired network (e.g., ethernet), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network, a wireless Wi-Fi network, etc.), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a frame relay network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a satellite network, a telephone network, a router, a hub, a server computer, etc. For example, network 120 may include a wireline network, a fiber optic network, a telecommunications network, a local area network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Bluetooth, or a Bluetooth network^TMNetwork, ZigBee^TMNetwork, Near Field Communication (NFC) network, and the like. In some embodiments, network 120 may include one or more network access points. For example, the network 120 may include wired and/or wireless network access points, such as base stations and/or internet switching points, through which one or more components of the collimator blade optimization system 100 may connect to the network 120 to exchange data and/or information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a leaf optimization system for a collimator according to some embodiments described herein.

As shown in fig. 2, the collimator blade optimization system 200 may include a first obtaining module 210, a first determining module 220, and a second determining module 230. In some embodiments, the blade optimization system 200 of the collimator may further include a drive module 240.

In some embodiments, the first acquisition module 210 may be configured to acquire a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator comprising at least two leaf layers, each leaf layer comprising at least one real leaf, at least two real leaves of the at least two leaf layers forming a real radiation area for radiation by the radiation source.

In some embodiments, the first determining module 220 may be configured to determine at least two corresponding reference leaves according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-leaf collimator, where at least two projection areas of the at least two corresponding reference leaves are non-overlapping. In some embodiments, the first determination module 220 may be further configured to determine an overlap relationship between at least two real blades in the at least two blade layers; and determining the corresponding at least two reference blades based on the overlapping relation, wherein the blade position with the minimum offset in the blade extending direction of at least one real blade arranged along the layer arrangement direction can be determined as the reference blade position of the corresponding reference blade in the blade extending direction. In some embodiments, the first determining module 220 may be further configured to determine the blade boundary positions of at least two real blades in the blade arrangement direction; determining the corresponding at least two reference blades based on the blade boundary positions; and the two adjacent blade boundary positions of the real blade in the blade arrangement direction correspond to two reference blade boundary positions of one reference blade in the blade arrangement direction. In some embodiments, the first determining module 220 may be further configured to determine a first blade position of the at least two real blades of the at least two blade layers in the blade extending direction; determining reference vane positions of the corresponding at least two reference vanes in the vane extension direction based on the first vane position; wherein the reference field formed by the at least two reference leaves is the same shape as the real field formed by the at least two real leaves of the at least two leaf layers.

In some embodiments, the second determining module 230 may be configured to perform blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers. In some embodiments, the second determination module 230 may also be used to determine a target amount of radiation; determining the blade position incidence relation between the at least two reference blades and each real blade of the at least two corresponding blade layers; and determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the position association relation, so that the difference between the estimated radiation amount corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers and the target radiation amount is minimized or reaches a preset threshold value. In some embodiments, the second determining module 230 may be further configured to determine at least two reference target positions corresponding to the at least two reference blades, so that a difference between the estimated radiation amount and the target radiation amount corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers is minimized or reaches a preset threshold; and determining the target blade position corresponding to each real blade based on the at least two reference target positions and the blade position incidence relation. In some embodiments, the second determining module 230 may be further configured to optimize the blade position of each real blade in the at least two blade layers based on the position relationship to determine the target blade position corresponding to each real blade.

In some embodiments, the driving module 240 may be configured to drive the at least two real blades of the at least two blade layers to move the at least two real blades of the at least two blade layers to the corresponding target blade positions.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, given the teachings of the present system, any combination of modules or sub-system configurations may be used to connect to other modules without departing from such teachings. For example, the first obtaining module 210 and the first determining module 220 disclosed in fig. 2 may be implemented by one module to realize the functions of the two modules. For example, each module may share one memory module, and each module may have its own memory module. Such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of leaf optimization of a collimator according to some embodiments described herein.

In some embodiments, flow 300 may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware simulation), etc., or any combination thereof. One or more of the operations in the flow 300 for acquiring a medical image illustrated in fig. 3 may be implemented by the processing device 140 illustrated in fig. 1. For example, the process 300 may be stored in the storage device 150 in the form of instructions and executed and/or invoked by the processing device 140.

As shown in fig. 3, the leaf optimization method 300 of the collimator may include the following operations.

Step 310, acquiring a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator, wherein the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf.

In some embodiments, step 310 may be performed by the first acquisition module 210.

The collimator is a device for coupling input and output optical signals/ray signals, and can generate/form a radiation field with a certain shape and contour (i.e. a radiation area for radiation of a radiation source, which can also be referred to as a range where a beam/ray bundle vertically passes through an irradiated object after passing through the collimator, and can be represented by projection of the ray bundle on an incident plane or a cross-sectional size of the surface of the irradiated object).

The collimator may include collimator blades and the field/radiation region is contoured by the collimator blades. The collimator blades may include one or more blades (e.g., 2, 3, 4, etc.) that may be used to block radiation. One or more blades are arranged in sequence to form a field/radiation region with a certain shape and contour. In some embodiments, each blade is independently movable. In some embodiments, the radiation source may emit a beam of radiation (e.g., X-rays) that passes through the field/radiation region formed by the collimator blades.

In some embodiments, the blades may be oval, rectangular, triangular, etc. in any shape or combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the blade has a width and a length. The width may be a dimension in a direction of a connection line between two sides (or two points) having the shortest distance from the surface of the blade irradiated with the radiation (corresponding to a shape of the blade projected on one projection plane in the radiation direction). The length may refer to a dimension in a direction of a line connecting two sides (or two points) having the longest distance on the surface of the blade irradiated with the radiation.

In some embodiments, one or more blades correspond to a blade extension direction. In some embodiments, the blade extension direction may be the length direction of the blade. In some embodiments, the blade extending direction may be a width direction of the blade. In some embodiments, the blade extension direction may be a direction in which the blade is movable. In some embodiments, the blade may be lengthened (or extended) or shortened in the direction of blade extension. In some embodiments, the blades may move side-to-side in the direction of blade extension. In some embodiments, the field/radiation area formed by the collimator blades (e.g., one or more blades, one blade layer, multiple blade layers) may be changed by the blades being lengthened (or extended) or shortened in the direction of blade extension, moved left or right, etc.

In some embodiments, the plurality of blades arranged in sequence in each blade layer corresponds to the blade arrangement direction. In some embodiments, a plurality of blades of a blade layer may have a corresponding blade alignment direction. In some embodiments, the plurality of blade layers may correspond to a plurality of blade alignment directions. In some embodiments, the plurality of blade layers may adopt the same blade arrangement direction (e.g., may be a common blade arrangement direction in which the plurality of blade layers project on a projection plane of the radiation direction). In some embodiments, the blade arrangement direction may be a length direction of the blades. In some embodiments, the blade arrangement direction may be a width direction of the blades. In some embodiments, two of the plurality of blades arranged in sequence may be parallel or may form an included angle (e.g., 30 °, 50 °, 80 °, etc.).

In some embodiments, the extending direction of the one or more blades may be the length direction of the blades, and the aligning direction of the one or more blades may be the width direction of the blades.

In some embodiments, the collimator blades may comprise one blade layer or two, three, etc. multiple blade layers, wherein one blade layer may comprise one or more blades. In some embodiments, a plurality of blade layers may be arranged in sequence, i.e., stacked, and the blade layers may be parallel or may form an angle (e.g., 30 °, 50 °, 80 °, etc.), for example, a first blade layer and a second blade layer form an included angle of 30 °.

In some embodiments, at least two blade layers of the plurality of blade layers have a shielding relationship therebetween, that is, each blade layer may form a corresponding field/radiation region, the field/radiation regions corresponding to each blade layer may be the same or different, shielding may be generated between the field/radiation regions of different blade layers, and the stacked plurality of blade layers may finally form a corresponding field/radiation region. In some embodiments, by changing/adjusting the overlapping/shielding relationship between the multiple blade layers, the corresponding field/radiation region of the finally formed multiple blade layers can be adjusted to obtain the target field/radiation region with the desired shape profile.

In some embodiments, the actual collimator leaves in the collimator may be referred to as real leaves, the position of the real leaves may be referred to as real leaf position, and the field/radiation region formed by the real leaves of the collimator may be referred to as real radiation region.

The blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator refers to the arrangement and layout of a plurality of blades. In some embodiments, the blade arrangement may include: the position of the blade in the extending direction of the blade, the position of one or more blades in the blade arrangement direction, the placement position of each blade layer in the blade layers, the overlapping relation/shielding relation between each blade in the blade layers and other related arrangement information of the blade.

In some embodiments, a coordinate system including the blade extending direction and the blade arranging direction may be set according to experience or needs, for example, as shown in fig. 4, the blade extending direction and the blade arranging direction may be two directions perpendicular to each other, wherein the origin of coordinates O may be a central position of the field/radiation area. Wherein, the position of the blade in the extending direction of the blade may exemplarily comprise: in the extending direction of the blade 1, the position coordinate of the center of the blade or any positioning point of the blade is X1, and the position coordinate of the end face of the blade forming the radiation field/radiation area is L1, etc. The position of the one or more blades in the blade arrangement direction may exemplarily include: the number 1 of the blade 1 in the blade arrangement direction of one or more blades means the arrangement order, and the position of the blade 1 (the blade center position, the blade boundary position, etc.) is the position coordinate W1, etc. The placement position of each of the plurality of blade layers may exemplarily include: the blade layer a is a j-th layer sequentially arranged from bottom to top or an i-th layer (i and j are integers) sequentially arranged from top to bottom among the plurality of blade layers, a position coordinate of the blade layer a in a layer arrangement direction of the plurality of blade layers is Hi, and the like, and the layer arrangement direction (not shown in fig. 4) may be a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the blade extending direction and the blade arrangement direction as shown in fig. 4.

The overlap/occlusion relationship between individual ones of the plurality of blade layers may illustratively include: the blade layer a overlaps/blocks the blade layer B, the overlap/block situation (overlapped/blocked blade, overlap/blocked area, overlap/blocked position, etc.) of the radiation field/region of the blade layer B by the blade layer a, the overlap/block situation (overlapped/blocked blade, overlap/blocked area, overlap/blocked position, etc.) of the blade 1 of the blade layer a and the blade 2 of the blade layer B, the overlap/block situation (overlapped/blocked blade, overlap/blocked area, overlap/blocked position, etc.) of the radiation field/region of the blade layer B by the blade 1 of the blade layer a, and the like.

In other embodiments of the present description, the collimator is described as comprising at least two leaf layers.

In some embodiments, the information related to the blade arrangement of the collimator may be recorded in a blade-related parameter of the collimator, and the blade arrangement of the collimator blade may be obtained by obtaining the blade-related parameter of the collimator.

In some embodiments, the collimator blade arrangement may be obtained by observing, measuring, or scanning the collimator blades. The method for obtaining the blade arrangement of the collimator is not limited in this specification.

And 320, determining at least two corresponding reference blades according to the blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator, wherein at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference blades are not overlapped.

In some embodiments, step 320 may be performed by the first determination module 220.

The reference blade refers to a blade used for reference or a converted blade, and may be a virtual blade or a real blade. In some embodiments, a plurality of reference leaves, such as 2, 3, 4, etc., corresponding to at least two leaf layers of the multi-leaf collimator may be determined based on the leaf arrangement.

In some embodiments, determining the corresponding plurality of reference blades based on the blade arrangement may include determining the plurality of reference blades based on one or more of blade arrangement information such as a position of the blade in a blade extending direction, a position of one or more blades in a blade arrangement direction, a placement position of each of the plurality of blade layers, an overlapping relationship/a blocking relationship between a plurality of real blades of the plurality of blade layers, and the like.

In some embodiments, determining the corresponding plurality of reference blades based on the blade arrangement may include determining the reference blade positions (i.e., the blade positions of the reference blades), the reference blade arrangement, the reference blade number, and other information related to the reference blades of the plurality of reference blades.

At least two projection areas corresponding to the determined plurality of reference blades (e.g., at least two reference blades) are not overlapped, i.e., there is no overlap/occlusion between each of the plurality of reference blades.

In some embodiments, a reference radiation shielding region formed by a plurality of reference leaves may be determined based on a real radiation shielding region formed by a plurality of real leaves included in the at least two leaf layers. In some embodiments, the reference radiation blocking area formed by the plurality of reference leaves determined based on the real leaf positions is the same as the real radiation blocking area formed by the plurality of real leaves comprised by the at least two leaf layers. The reference blade is a virtual blade, which can correspondingly realize virtual radiation shielding, and the reference radiation shielding area refers to a virtual radiation shielding area formed by a plurality of reference blades.

In some embodiments, a plurality of reference blades (e.g., the reference blade position, the reference blade arrangement, the reference blade number, and the like) may be determined based on the dividing manner of the real radiation shielding region. In some embodiments, the real radiation blocking area may be divided into a plurality of real radiation blocking bands, each of which is formed by one real leaf or a plurality of real leaves together, that is, each of the real radiation blocking bands corresponds to one real leaf or a plurality of real leaves. In some embodiments, one real radiation shielding band may correspond to a reference radiation shielding region of one reference blade, a plurality of real radiation shielding bands may correspond to a plurality of reference radiation shielding regions of a plurality of reference blades, and each real radiation shielding band may correspond to one real blade or a plurality of real blades (for example, the real radiation shielding band 1 is formed by a real blade 2 and a real blade 3 together, where the real blade 2 and the real blade 3 have a shielding relationship), and it can be understood that each reference blade also corresponds to one real blade or a plurality of real blades, for example, the position of the reference blade 1 in the blade extending direction corresponds to the position of the real blade 1 in the blade extending direction.

In some embodiments, a reference radiation area formed by a plurality of reference blades may be determined based on a real radiation area formed by a plurality of real blades comprised by the at least two blade layers. In some embodiments, the reference radiation area formed by the plurality of reference blades determined based on the real blade positions is the same shape as the real radiation area formed by at least two real blades of the at least two blade layers. The reference radiation area refers to a virtual radiation field/radiation area formed by a plurality of reference leaves.

In some embodiments, a plurality of reference blades may be identified and arranged in sequence to form a reference blade layer. In some embodiments, the plurality of reference blades may be staggered up and down, and the plurality of projections corresponding to the plurality of reference blades may be sequentially arranged along a blade arrangement direction in which the plurality of reference blades project on a projection plane, that is, each of the plurality of reference blades is not blocked. In some embodiments, the plurality of reference blades may form a plurality of reference blade layers, and the plurality of reference blade layers may be staggered, so that there is no shielding relationship between the plurality of reference blade layers, that is, a plurality of projections corresponding to the plurality of reference blade layers may be sequentially arranged along a blade arrangement direction in which the plurality of reference blade layers project on one projection plane, so that there is no shielding between each of the plurality of reference blades in the plurality of reference blade layers.

In some embodiments, the collimator includes the same number of leaves of the real leaves as the number of leaves of the reference leaves. For example, the collimator includes 2 blade layers, and the 2 blade layers include 5 real blades in total, and 5 reference blades can be determined correspondingly. In some embodiments, the collimator leaves may include different numbers of leaves of real leaves and reference leaves (see fig. 4). In some embodiments, the number of reference blades may be determined based on the number of blades of the real blade.

In some embodiments, at least two real blades in the at least two blade layers may be divided into corresponding at least two reference blades based on the overlapping/blocking relationship of each real blade of the at least two blade layers, wherein two adjacent blade boundary positions of the at least two real blades in the blade arrangement direction correspond to two reference blade boundary positions of one reference blade in the blade arrangement direction.

In some embodiments, the blade boundary positions of the plurality of reference blades may be determined based on the blade boundary positions of the plurality of real blades of the two blade layers in the blade arrangement direction. A plurality of reference blades may be determined based on the determined blade boundary positions of the plurality of reference blades. It will be appreciated that each of the real and reference blades includes two blade boundary positions in the blade alignment direction. The plurality of real blades of at least two blade layers are in blade boundary positions in the blade arrangement direction, and two adjacent blade boundary positions correspond to two reference blade boundary positions of one reference blade in the blade arrangement direction. The two adjacent blade boundary positions are the results obtained by arranging the boundaries of a plurality of real blades of a plurality of blade layers along the blade arrangement direction. For example, referring to FIG. 4, the adjacent two blade boundary positions may be W11 and W21.

In some embodiments, the reference first blade positions of the plurality of reference blades in the blade extending direction (i.e., the first direction) may also be determined based on the first blade positions of the plurality of real blades of the two blade layers. In some embodiments, a plurality of reference blades may be determined based on the determined reference blade boundary positions of the plurality of reference blades and the reference first blade position. It can be understood that the reference radiation area formed by the plurality of reference blades is the same as the real radiation area formed by the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers, that is, the radiation field/radiation area formed by the plurality of reference blades is equivalent to the radiation field/radiation area formed by the plurality of real blades of the corresponding at least two blade layers.

In some embodiments, the blade extending direction of the real blade may be referred to as a first direction, and the blade position of the real blade in the first direction may be referred to as a first blade position.

For example, as shown in fig. 4, the collimator blade includes two blade layers, which are a blade layer a and a blade layer B arranged from bottom to top, respectively, the blade layer a includes a real blade 1, a real blade 3, and a real blade 5 arranged in sequence, the blade layer B includes a real blade 2 and a real blade 4 arranged in sequence, and a plurality of real blades of the blade layer a and the blade layer B are shielded from each other, so that a real radiation area S shown in fig. 4 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, trueness can be determinedThe coordinate positions (i.e., the first blade positions) of the blades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 forming the end surfaces of the radiation field/radiation region in the blade extending direction (i.e., the first direction) are respectively L₁、L₂、L₃、L₄、L₅(in fig. 4, the point O in the first direction is exemplarily taken as the origin of coordinates). The position coordinates of 2 blade boundary positions of the real blades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in the blade arrangement direction (e.g. a blade arrangement direction projected by a plurality of reference blade layers on a projection plane) can be determined as W11 and W12, W21 and W22, W31 and W32, W41 and W42, W51 and W52 (in fig. 4, the starting position of the first blade arranged in the blade arrangement direction, i.e. the real blade 1, is exemplarily taken as the coordinate origin), wherein 5 real blades can be closely arranged and can also have a gap, wherein the boundary positions of the adjacently arranged 2 real blades in the same blade layer can be coincident, and the real blades of the blade layer a and the real blades of the blade layer B can overlap in the projection plane. As shown in fig. 4, W12 and W31 coincide, W22 and W41 coincide, and W32 and W51 coincide.

As shown in fig. 4, based on the blade boundary positions W11, W12, W21, W22, W31, W32, W41, W42, W51, and W52 of the plurality of real blades of the two blade layers in the blade arrangement direction, the reference blade boundary positions corresponding to the 6 reference blades, respectively, can be determined. The reference blade boundary positions of the reference blade 1 are W11 and W21, the reference blade boundary positions of the reference blade 2 are W21 and W12 (or W31), the reference blade boundary positions of the reference blade 3 are W12 (or W31) and W22 (or W41), the reference blade boundary positions of the reference blade 4 are W22 (or W41) and W32 (or W51), the reference blade boundary positions of the reference blade 5 are W32 (or W51) and W42, and the blade boundary positions of the reference blade 6 are W42 and W52.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first blade position L of a plurality of real blades based on two blade layers₁、L₂、L₃、L₄、L₅It can be determined that 6 reference vanes form the end face of the field/radiation region in the vane extension direction (i.e., the first direction)I.e. with reference to the first blade position. Wherein the coordinate position of the end faces of the reference blades 1-6 can be expressed as l₁、l₂、l₃、l₄、l₅、l₆Can be determined to obtain l₁＝L₁、l₂＝L₁、l₃＝L₃、l₄＝L4、l₅＝L₅、l₆＝L₅。

As shown in fig. 4, the field/radiation area formed by the 6 reference leaves is the same as the real radiation area S (e.g., shape).

In some embodiments, the plurality of reference blades determined based on the blade arrangement of the at least two blade layers of the collimator have an association relationship with the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers. For more details about the association relationship between the reference blades and the real blades, reference may be made to step 330 and its related contents, which are not described herein again.

And 330, performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

In some embodiments, step 330 may be performed by the second determination module 230.

In some embodiments, after determining the plurality of reference leaves, leaf optimization can be performed on each real leaf (e.g., the first leaf position of the real leaf, the leaf boundary position of the real leaf) of at least two leaf layers of the multi-leaf collimator by optimizing the reference leaves (e.g., the first leaf position of the reference leaf, which may be referred to as the reference first leaf position: the leaf boundary position of the reference leaf, which may be referred to as the reference boundary position). Wherein the optimized blade position of the real blade may be referred to as a target blade position. In some embodiments, the target blade position may be a determined position. In some embodiments, the target blade position may be a range of positions.

The optimization of the reference leaves can reduce the difference/deviation between the estimated radiation amount corresponding to the plurality of reference leaves (i.e. the estimated radiation amount corresponding to the reference radiation area formed by the plurality of reference leaves) and the actually required target radiation amount so as to minimize the difference/deviation or reach the preset threshold value. The target radiation dose may reflect a desired radiation dose for a target field/target radiation region (e.g., a region corresponding to a lesion site of a patient).

Optimizing the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers may reduce a difference/deviation between an estimated radiation amount corresponding to the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers (i.e., an estimated radiation amount corresponding to a real radiation area formed by the plurality of real blades) and an actually required target radiation amount so that the difference/deviation is minimized or reaches a preset threshold.

In some embodiments, optimization of a reference vane position (e.g., a first vane position of a reference vane in a direction of vane extension) may be performed based on a parameter difference between the predicted and target radiation amounts (e.g., radiation doses corresponding to respective positions, whether the position is irradiated, etc.).

In some embodiments, a blade position association relationship between the at least two reference blades and each real blade of the at least two corresponding blade layers may be determined, and the target blade position corresponding to each real blade of the at least two blade layers may be determined based on the position association relationship, so that a difference between a target radiation amount and an estimated radiation amount corresponding to the at least two reference blades is minimized or reaches a preset threshold.

As described above, the determined plurality of reference blades and the plurality of real blades of at least two layers have corresponding relations, for example, a plurality of reference first blade positions corresponding to the plurality of reference blades and a plurality of first blade positions corresponding to the plurality of real blades have corresponding relations, and a plurality of reference boundary positions corresponding to the plurality of reference blades and a plurality of blade boundary positions corresponding to the plurality of real blades have corresponding relations. In some embodiments, the blade position association relationship of the at least two reference blades with each real blade of the corresponding at least two blade layers may be determined based on correspondence of the plurality of reference blades with the plurality of real blades of the at least two layers (e.g., correspondence of the plurality of reference first blade positions and the plurality of first blade positions, correspondence of the plurality of reference boundary positions and the plurality of blade boundary positions).

In some embodiments, the position correlation between the plurality of reference blades and the plurality of real blades may include a functional relationship between a plurality of reference target blade positions (e.g., a reference first blade position of the reference blade in the blade extending direction) of the plurality of reference blades and a plurality of real blade positions (e.g., a first blade position of the real blade in the blade extending direction) of the plurality of real blades.

In some embodiments, L may be_iDenotes the offset distance of the ith real blade from the coordinate axis in the blade arrangement direction, l_iThe offset distance of the reference blade from the coordinate axis in the blade arrangement direction (the farther from the coordinate axis, the larger the offset amount) is represented, and at this time, the positional relationship may be represented as:

l₁＝L₁；l_i＝min(L_i-1，L_i)，for i≥2

in some embodiments, the position association relation may be substituted into an algorithm for determining the target blade position by optimizing the real blade, so as to convert the blade position of the real blade into a reference target position of a reference blade, and determine the target blade position corresponding to the real blade. For more details of determining the target blade position based on the aforementioned position association relationship in the algorithm for determining the target blade position by optimizing the real blade, refer to fig. 5 and the related description thereof.

The reference target position refers to a reference blade position of the reference blade determined after the optimization of the reference blade (e.g., a reference first blade position of the reference blade in the blade extending direction after the optimization).

In some embodiments, the real leaves are optimized to determine the target leaf position by using human adjustment, algorithm optimization (e.g., optimizing the real leaf positions of a plurality of real leaves based on a gradient chain rule, or optimizing the real leaf positions by using other analytic algorithms), and a trained neural network model processes input information related to the plurality of real leaves (e.g., the first leaf position of a real leaf in the extending direction of a leaf) to output the target leaf positions corresponding to the plurality of real leaves.

For more details on blade optimization of a plurality of real blades of at least two blade layers to determine a target blade position, reference may be made to fig. 5 and its associated description.

In some embodiments, the reference blade may be optimized to determine the reference target position, and then a plurality of target blade positions corresponding to the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers may be determined based on the blade position association relationship between the at least two reference blades and each real blade of the at least two corresponding blade layers and the plurality of reference target positions corresponding to the plurality of reference blades. The optimization of the reference blade to determine the reference target position of the reference blade may adopt a method similar to the optimization of the real blade to determine the target blade position, and only the relevant information of the real blade needs to be replaced by the relevant information of the corresponding reference blade.

In some embodiments, taking the coordinate position in fig. 4 as an example, the first blade positions L corresponding to the real blades are multiple_iMultiple reference first blade positions l corresponding to multiple reference blades_iThe position correlation relationship is as follows:

l₁＝L₁；l_i＝min(L_i-1，L_i)，for i≥2

the reference target positions corresponding to the determined multiple reference blades can be represented as l_i', multiple target blade positions for multiple real blades can be represented as L_i', as shown in FIG. 4, O is the origin of coordinates, l_i、L_i、l_i’、L_i' both indicate the offset of the corresponding blade.

In some embodiments, the target blade position of each real blade of the corresponding at least two blade layers may be derived and determined from the reference target positions of the at least two reference blades based on the position association relationship as follows: l is₁’＝l₁'; if l is_i-1’＜l_i' or l_i-1’＞l_i', then L_i’＝l_i'; if l is_i-1’＝l_i', thenJudgment of l_i' and l_i+1' size, if_i’≥l_i+1', then L_i’≥l_i', if_i’＜l_i+1', then L_i’≥l_i+1’。

In some embodiments, based on the determined target blade position of the plurality of real blades (e.g., the first blade position of the optimized real blade in the blade extending direction), the plurality of real blades of the at least two blade layers may be correspondingly moved to the corresponding target blade position to achieve the target radiation dose by forming the target field/target radiation region through the plurality of blades of the at least two blade layers after the position adjustment.

In some embodiments, the plurality of blades of at least two blade layers may be driven to move to corresponding target blade positions by a control device (e.g., a motor, a pulley, etc.). In some embodiments, the real blade may be moved by a manual method or the like, and the driving method is not limited in this specification.

It should be noted that the above description of the process 300 is for illustration and description only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Various modifications and changes to flow 300 will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this description. However, such modifications and variations are intended to be within the scope of the present description.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned real blade and reference blade in fig. 4 are only for illustration and explanation, and do not limit the applicable scope of the present specification. Various modifications and changes may be made to the actual blade and the reference blade by those skilled in the art in light of the present description. However, such modifications and variations are intended to be within the scope of the present description.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating the determination of a target blade position for each real blade in the at least two blade layers according to some embodiments of the present description.

In some embodiments, flow 500 may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware references), etc., or any combination thereof. One or more of the operations in flow 500 shown in fig. 5 may be implemented by processing device 140 shown in fig. 1. For example, the flow 500 may be stored in the storage device 150 in the form of instructions and invoked and/or executed by the second determination module 230 of the system 200 deployed on the processing device 140.

As shown in fig. 5, the method 500 of determining a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers may include the following operations.

Step 510, determining a target radiation amount, and determining an objective function based on the target radiation amount and the difference between the estimated radiation amounts corresponding to the at least two reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers.

The estimated radiation amounts corresponding to the plurality of reference leaves (which is also equivalent to the estimated radiation amounts corresponding to the at least two leaf layers corresponding to the plurality of real leaves) refer to the radiation amount distribution of the predicted rays on the irradiated object (such as the region corresponding to the organ of the patient) irradiated by the plurality of reference leaves (which is equivalent to the plurality of real leaves passing through the corresponding at least two leaf layers).

The target radiation dose refers to an actually required radiation dose distribution corresponding to an irradiated object (e.g., a region corresponding to an organ of a patient). The target radiation dose can be set according to actual needs or determined according to actual needed target radiation field/target radiation area (such as the area corresponding to the organ of the patient). For example, in the region corresponding to the organ of the patient, the value of the target radiation amount at each position of the partial region corresponding to the lesion site is 2000, and the value of the target radiation amount at each position of the other region than the partial region corresponding to the lesion site is 0 or less (e.g., 5, 10, 20, etc.).

In some embodiments, the estimated radiation dose corresponding to the reference blades corresponding to the at least two blade layers may be based on a reference blade position (e.g., a reference first blade position) l of the reference blade corresponding to each real blade of the at least two blade layers_iAnd (4) determining.

For example, the objective function Θ can be constructed as:

wherein L is_i＝f(l_i) And f denotes the reference vane position l_i(e.g. reference first blade position) and true blade position L_i(e.g. first vane position),for a position on the object to be irradiated,representation based on true blade position L_iDetermining a position on an irradiated objectCorresponding predicted radiation dose (i.e. based on the true blade position L)_iCorresponding reference vane position l_iDetermining a position on an irradiated objectCorresponding estimated radiation dose), the objective function Θ represents the difference between the estimated radiation dose and the target radiation dose.

Step 520, solving the objective function based on the position incidence relation between the at least two reference blades and each real blade of the at least two corresponding blade layers to obtain the position of the target blade corresponding to each real blade of the at least two blade layers, so that the difference between the target radiation amount and the estimated radiation amount is minimized or reaches a preset threshold value.

In some embodiments, the objective function may be solved with the minimized difference as an optimization objective, that is, a plurality of target blade positions corresponding to a plurality of real blades of at least two blade layers (e.g., a first blade position of the optimized real blade in the blade extending direction) are solved.

Illustratively, the objective function may be solved by gradient chain rule. The gradient chain rule may be that a direction derivative of the objective function at the position of the real blade obtains a maximum value along the direction by calculating the gradient of the objective function to the position of the real blade, that is, the direction of the function at the position of the real blade changes fastest along the direction (the direction of the gradient) and the change rate is maximum, so as to find the direction of solving the objective function, and further obtain the required position of the target blade based on the direction of solving the objective function.

In some embodiments, the position correlation between the reference blade position (e.g., the reference first blade position) and the real blade position (e.g., the first blade position) may be brought into an objective function, and the solving objective function (i.e., solving a plurality of target blade positions corresponding to a plurality of real blades of at least two blade layers) is converted into solving the reference target positions of at least two corresponding reference blades, so as to determine the target blade position of the real blade. Taking the example of solving the objective function by the gradient chain rule, substituting the position association relationship into the objective function for solving can be expressed as solving the optimization direction of the objective function by the following formula, and then determining the target blade position L of the real blade based on the optimization direction of the objective function_i：

Wherein L is_i＝f(l_i) And f represents the positional relationship of the reference vane position (e.g., reference first vane position) to the true vane position (e.g., first vane position). It can be concluded that solving the objective function based on the aforementioned position correlation will calculate the true blade position L_iIs converted into a calculation of the corresponding reference blade position l_iSo that L is optimized_iIs simpler and more efficient.

The optimization problem of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator can be converted into the optimization problem of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator through the embodiment, so that the solving process of the multi-layer MLC is simplified, and the optimization method applicable to the single-layer multi-leaf collimator in the prior art can be applicable to the multi-layer MLC.

The embodiment of the specification also provides a device which comprises a processor, wherein the processor is used for executing the blade optimization method of the collimator. The leaf optimization method of the collimator can comprise the following steps: acquiring a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator, wherein the multi-leaf collimator comprises at least two leaf layers, and each leaf layer comprises at least one real leaf; determining at least two corresponding reference blades according to the blade arrangement of the multi-blade collimator, wherein at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two reference blades are not overlapped; and performing blade optimization based on the at least two reference blades to determine a target blade position corresponding to each real blade in the at least two blade layers.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system for collimator blade conversion in accordance with certain embodiments described herein.

As shown in fig. 6, the collimator blade conversion system 600 may include a second acquisition module 610 and a blade conversion module 620.

In some embodiments, the second acquisition module 610 may be used to acquire a blade arrangement of the collimator. In some embodiments, the second acquisition module 610 may be configured to acquire a leaf arrangement of a multi-leaf collimator comprising at least two leaf layers. In some embodiments, the second obtaining module 610 may further be configured to obtain a leaf arrangement of a single-layer multi-leaf collimator, where the single-layer multi-leaf collimator includes at least two leaves, and at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two leaves do not overlap.

In some embodiments, the blade conversion module 620 may be configured to perform equivalent conversion of at least two blade layers to at least two blades according to the blade arrangement; wherein, at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two blades have no overlap. In some embodiments, the leaf conversion module 620 may be configured to determine at least two corresponding reference leaves according to the leaf arrangement of the multi-layered multi-leaf collimator; wherein at least two projection regions corresponding to the at least two reference blades have no overlap. In some embodiments, the leaf conversion module 620 may be further configured to determine at least two corresponding leaf layers according to the leaf arrangement of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the conversion between a multi-slice radiation therapy plan and a single-slice radiation therapy plan may be achieved using the collimator leaf conversion method, system, or apparatus described above. For example, a first radiation treatment plan is acquired, the first radiation treatment plan corresponding to a first collimator; and modifying the first radiation treatment plan into an equivalent second radiation treatment plan based on the blade position association relationship between the first collimator and the second collimator, wherein the second radiation treatment plan corresponds to the second collimator, one of the first collimator and the second collimator comprises at least two blade layers, and the other one is a single blade layer. Optionally, the first collimator is a multi-level MLC, and the second collimator is a single-level MLC. By the technical scheme, the conversion between the plan corresponding to the multi-layer MLC and the plan corresponding to the single-layer MLC can be realized, the complicated solution process of iterative optimization is avoided, the problem is simplified, and the time is shortened. Even if the converted plan does not meet the target dose requirement, the final target radiation treatment plan can be obtained by continuously optimizing based on the converted plan, thereby shortening the optimization time.

Embodiments of the present specification also provide another apparatus, which includes a processor for executing the method for collimator blade transformation. The collimator blade conversion method can comprise the following steps: acquiring the blade arrangement of the collimator; performing equivalent conversion between at least two blade layers and at least two blades according to the blade arrangement; wherein, at least two projection areas corresponding to the at least two blades have no overlap.

The method and system of the embodiments of the present specification may bring about beneficial effects including, but not limited to: (1) for the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator, a plurality of mutually non-shielded reference leaves are determined based on the real leaf positions of a plurality of real leaves of at least two layers, so that the multi-layer multi-leaf leaves are simplified into an equivalent virtual single layer, the optimized reference target position can be determined directly by a simple non-shielded single-layer leaf optimization method, the calculation amount of optimization calculation can be reduced, the calculation process can be simplified, and the target leaf positions of the multi-layer multi-leaf real leaves can be determined more conveniently, efficiently and accurately; (2) based on the position incidence relation between the reference leaf and the real leaf, the target leaf position of the real leaf can be obtained from the reference target position of the reference leaf, the optimization calculation process of the leaf of the multi-layer multi-leaf collimator in the optimization method is simplified, and the optimization algorithm of the leaf of the single-layer multi-leaf collimator can be multiplexed to the leaf optimization of multi-layer multi-leaf collimators (such as 2 layers, 3 layers, 4 layers and the like) in more different situations. It is to be noted that different embodiments may produce different advantages, and in different embodiments, any one or combination of the above advantages may be produced, or any other advantages may be obtained.

Having thus described the basic concept, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is to be presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. Such alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

In addition, specific terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the terms "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of several patentable categories or contexts, including any new and useful processes, machines, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful modifications thereof. Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-readable media having computer-readable program code embodied thereon.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein (e.g., in baseband or as part of a carrier wave). Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, and the like, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for execution by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C + +, C #, VB.NET, Python, and so forth, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, visual basic, Fortran2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages, such as Python, Ruby, and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (e.g., through the internet using an internet service provider) or in a cloud computing environment or provided as a service, such as software as a service (SaaS).

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or using numbers, letters, or other designations therefore is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. While the foregoing disclosure discusses, through various examples, what are presently considered to be various useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, while the implementation of the various components described above may be implemented in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software-only solution — e.g., installed on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, inventive embodiments lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

In some embodiments, numbers expressing quantities or attributes used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the specification are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term "about", "approximately" or "substantially". For example, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" may indicate a variation of ± 20% of the described value, unless otherwise stated. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, these numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the specification are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practically possible.

Each patent, patent specification, publication, or other material, such as articles, books, descriptions, publications, documents, articles, or the like, cited herein is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes, except to the extent that any citation or history associated with such material, material in such material that is inconsistent or contrary to this document, or material in such material may have a limited effect on the scope of the claims now or later associated with this document. By way of example, the description, definition, and/or use of terms in this document shall control if there is any inconsistency or conflict between the description, definition, and/or use of terms associated with any of the incorporated materials and the description, definition, and/or use of terms associated with this document.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the present specification. Other modifications that may be employed may fall within the scope of this description. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, alternative configurations of embodiments of the present specification may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present description are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described.