Readers and computer program products that cooperate with single-use external dosimeters for use in radiation therapies

Abstract

Methods, systems, devices, and computer program products include positioning single-use radiation sensor patches that have adhesive means onto the skin of a patient to evaluate the radiation dose delivered during a treatment session. The sensor patches are configured to be minimally obtrusive and operate without the use of externally extending power cords or lead wires.

1 . A computer program product for evaluating a radiation dose delivered to a patient, the computer program product comprising:
 a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:   computer readable program code for receiving pre-irradiation threshold voltage data associated with a plurality of disposable sensor patches;   computer readable program code for accepting data from a reader configured to electrically serially contact each of the plurality of disposable sensors; and   computer readable program code for determining the voltage threshold shift of the disposable sensor patches after radiation to determine the radiation exposure.   
     
     
         2 . A computer program product according to  claim 1 , further comprising computer readable program code for extrapolating the determined radiation exposure obtained from the sensor patches to estimate a radiation dose delivered to a tumor site of a patient. 
     
     
         3 . A computer program product according to  claim 1 , further comprising computer readable program code for averaging the dose amount over a plurality of the patches to determine a representative radiation dose. 
     
     
         4 . A computer program product according to  claim 3 , further comprising computer readable program code for discarding statistically incorrect radiation exposure values. 
     
     
         5 . A computer program product according to  claim 4 , further comprising computer readable program code for alerting of potential data corruption or discarding dose values that substantially depart from predicted values. 
     
     
         6 . A hand-held dose reader device with a circuit having the computer program product of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         7 . A dosimeter radiation sensor for quantifying radiation exposure or dose, comprising a sensor circuit that includes a MOSFET pair configuration that does not require floating gate structures and/or external voltage applied during radiation. 
     
     
         8 . A dosimeter according to  claim 7 , wherein one of the MOSFET pair is selectively implanted with ions to shift the threshold voltage relative to the other MOSFET. 
     
     
         9 . A dosimeter according to  claim 8 , wherein the threshold voltages of the two MOSFETs in the MOSFET pair are compared to determine the radiation dose. 
     
     
         10 . A dosimeter according to  claim 7 , wherein the dosimeter is configured as a surface mounted patch. 
     
     
         11 . A dosimeter according to  claim 7 , wherein the dosimeter is configured to wirelessly communicate with a reader device to obtain measured radiation data. 
     
     
         12 . A dosimeter according to  claim 7 , wherein the MOSFET pair is configured to be unbiased. 
     
     
         13 . A dosimeter according to  claim 7 , wherein the dosimeter is configured to be inserted into a reader and electrically couple the reader to the dosimeter. 
     
     
         14 . A dose-reader device comprising a sensor port that is adapted to receive a sensor patch, the sensor patch having a tab portion adapted to be inserted into the sensor port and electrically couple the sensor patch to the reader device to provide data associated with an operational parameter in the sensor patch to the reader device. 
     
     
         15 . A dose-reader device according to  claim 14 , wherein the dose reader device includes a circuit for transferring the associated data to a remote computer and/or a computer application. 
     
     
         16 . A dose-reader device according to  claim 14 , further comprising a circuit programmably configured to evaluate a radiation dose delivered to a patient using the associated data of the operational parameter of the sensor patch, wherein the circuit is configured to: (a) obtain pre-irradiation threshold voltage data of a respective sensor patch; and (b) calculate radiation exposure of the patient using a voltage threshold shift of at least one sensor patch after radiation. 
     
     
         17 . A dose-reader device according to  claim 14 , wherein the dose-reader device is a personal digital assistant (PDA).