Apparatus and methods for mapping high energy radiation dose during radiation treatment

Abstract

A system for dosimetry includes a radiation source that provides a pulsed radiation beam to a treatment zone, and a thin sheet of scintillator disposed between the radiation source and skin of a subject in the treatment zone. A gated camera images the scintillator integrating light from the scintillator during multiple pulses of the radiation beam while excluding light received between pulses of the pulsed radiation beam; and an image capture and processing machine that receives images from the gated camera and performs additional corrections to provide a map of dose received by the subject.

1 . A system for dosimetry, comprising:
 a radiation source adapted to provide a pulsed radiation beam to a treatment zone;   a thin sheet of scintillator disposed between the radiation source and skin of a subject, the thin sheet of scintillator being in the treatment zone;   a gated camera configured to image the sheet of scintillator; and   an image capture and processing machine coupled to receive images from the gated camera;   wherein the gated camera is configured to capture images of light from the thin sheet of scintillator during a plurality of pulses of the pulsed radiation beam while excluding light received from the thin sheet of scintillator between pulses of the plurality of pulses of the pulsed radiation beam to form a scintillation image.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the thin sheet of scintillator is a conformal sheet of scintillating material in contact with skin of the subject. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the system further comprises a 3-D imaging camera, and wherein the image capture and processing machine is configured to process images from the 3-D imaging camera into a three-dimensional model of the subject and to use the three-dimensional model of the subject to correct the scintillation image while determining a corrected total dose image. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the image capture and processing machine is configured to subtract a background image from the scintillation image, the background image being obtained by the gated camera at times excluding times of pulses of the pulsed radiation beam. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the system further comprises a 3-D imaging camera, and wherein the image capture and processing machine is configured to process images from the 3-D imaging camera into a three dimensional model of the subject and to use the three dimensional model of the subject to correct the scintillation image while determining a corrected total dose image. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the image capture and processing machine further comprises a database containing calibration information associated with individual thin sheets of scintillator, and the image capture and processing machine is configured to correct the scintillation image according to the calibration information. 
     
     
         7 .- 16 . (canceled)