TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates generally to the field of teletherapy and m
particular to a teletherapy patient support and method.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Teletherapy is defined as a treatment methodology in which an
irradiation source is at a distance from the body to be treated. X-rays and electron
beams have long been used in teletherapy to treat various cancers, and more recently
the use of heavy particles in teletherapy, such as protons, has increased.
[0004] The radiation can be focused to a target volume of variable penetration
20 depth. In this way the dose profile can be matched closely to the target volume with a
high precision. In order to ensure complete irradiation of the target growth, i.e. the
target volume, a plurality of beams arriving at the target growth from several different
directions is preferred. The point at which the plurality of beams intersects, whether
they are beamed sequentially or simultaneously, is termed the isocenter, and to
25 maximize biological effectiveness the isocenter is to be precisely collocated with the
target growth.
[0005] Irradiation treatment is performed on a target growth in a well-defined
process. In a first stage, known as the treatment planning stage, the target growth is
imaged and a treatment plan is defined, comprising dosage, patient position, and
30 irradiation angles. Furthermore, placement markers are defined, so as to ensure that
subsequent irradiation sessions are properly targeted. Irradiation is then performed,
responsive to the developed treatment plan, at a plurality of treatment sessions over a
period of time, each treatment session being known as a fraction. At each such fraction,
care must be taken to ensure proper patient positioning, responsive to the placement
35 markers, so as to avoid damage to organs in vicinity of the target growth. Positioning
1
of the patient responsive to the markers is performed based on visualization of the
patient, responsive to the defined markers.
[0006] Particularly, during each fraction, the patient is positioned on a patient
support member, such as a bed, in a setup position. The setup position is preferably
5 identical to the patient position during the imaging of the treatment planning stage,
except that the setup position is in the treatment room and the center of the target growth
is positioned at the isocenter of the irradiation source. The setup position of the patient
is typically verified by imaging and/or positioning devices. What is desired, and not
provided by the prior art, is a patient support that allows teletherapy and imaging at
10 various angles, and in various patient positions.
[0007] U.S. patent SIN US 7,847,275, granted December 7, 2010 to Lifshitz et
al., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, is addressed to a
teletherapy positioning apparatus which is adapted to translate a patient support
member along any of three orthogonal axes and rotate the patient support member at
15 least 180 degrees about each of three axes so as to position the patient support member
with respect to a fixed treatment beam, thus allowing a patient who is lying down to be
treated at any desired angle. Although this allows treatment at a variety of angles, it is
limited to a flat patient support member where the patient is lying down.
20 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to overcome
disadvantages of prior art methods and arrangements of teletherapy. This is provided
in one embodiment by a teletherapy patient support, the teletherapy patient support
comprising: a pelvis support member exhibiting a first face and a second face opposing
25 the first face; a torso support member extending from the pelvis support member and
facing the first face of the pelvis support member; a first leg support extending from the
pelvis support member and facing the second face of the pelvis support member; and a
second leg support exhibiting at least one connection member, wherein the second leg
support further exhibits at least one receptacle, the pelvis support member arranged to
30 be alternately: attached to the pelvis support member by the at least one connection
member being positioned within the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support
member; and detached from the pelvis support member by the at least one connection
member not being positioned within the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support
member.

CLAIMS
1. A teletherapy patient support comprising:
a pelvis support member exhibiting a first face and a second face opposing said
5 first face;
a torso support member extending from said pelvis support member and facing
said first face of said pelvis support member;
a first leg support extending from said pelvis support member and facing said
second face of said pelvis support member; and
10 a second leg support exhibiting at least one connection member,
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20
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wherein said second leg support further exhibits at least one receptacle, said
pelvis support member arranged to be alternately:
attached to said pelvis support member by said at least one connection
member being positioned within said at least one receptacle of said pelvis
support member; and
detached from said pelvis support member by said at least one connection member not
being positioned within said at least one receptacle of said pelvis support member.
2. The teletherapy patient support of claim 1, further comprising:
a control circuitry; and
a position rotation member, said control circuitry arranged to control said
position rotation member to alternately rotate said pelvis support member and said torso
support member about a position rotation axis by:
an upright angle range, and
a reclined angle range different than said upright angle range.
3. The teletherapy patient support of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising a pelvis
extension member,
wherein said pelvis support member further exhibits a first side and a second
30 side opposing said first side, each of said first face and said second face extending from
said first side to said second side, and
wherein said torso support member extends from said first side of said pelvis
support member and said pelvis extension member extends from said second side of
said pelvis support member.
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4. The teletherapy support of claim 3, wherein a distance between said first side and
said second side of said pelvis support member is less than 20 centimeters.
5 5. The teletherapy support of claim 3 or claim 4, further comprising:
a control circuitry; and
a position rotation member, said control circuitry arranged to control said
position rotation member to alternately rotate said pelvis support member and said torso
support member about a position rotation axis by:
10 an upright angle range, and
15
20
a reclined angle range different than said upright angle range,
wherein a distance between said first side and said second side of said pelvis
support member is large enough to support the pelvis of a patient, yet small enough to:
allow the patient to be in a supine position when said pelvis support
member and said torso support member are rotated about said position rotation
axis by an angle within said reclined angle range; and
allow the patient to be in a standing position when said pelvis support
member and said torso support member are rotated about said position rotation
axis by an angle within said upright angle range.
6. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein said
torso support member exhibits an angle with said pelvis extension member between
100 to 120 degrees.
25 7. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein said
first face of said pelvis support member and a face of said pelvis extension member
form a general T shape.
8. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein said
30 at least one receptacle of said pelvis support member extends into said second side
thereof.
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9. The teletherapy patient support of claim 8, wherein said second side of said pelvis
support member exhibits a first section and a second section, said pelvis extension
member separating said second section from said first section, and
wherein said at least one receptacle of said pelvis support member exhibits a
5 pair of receptacles, each of said pair of receptacles extending into a respective one of
said first section and said second section of said second side of said pelvis support
member.
10. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 3 to 9, wherein said
10 second side of said pelvis support member exhibits a first section and a second section,
said pelvis extension member separating said second section from said first section.
11. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 3 to 10, wherein
said pelvis extension member exhibits a first face and a second face opposing said first
15 face, and
wherein said pelvis support member or said pelvis extension member exhibits a
hole extending from said respective first face to said respective second face.
12. The teletherapy patient support according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein
20 said first face of said pelvis support member generally defines a plane and said second
leg support extends along said plane when said at least one connection member of said
second leg support is positioned within said at least one receptacle of said pelvis support
member.
25 13. A teletherapy patient support method, wherein a pelvis support member exhibits a
first face and a second face opposing the first face,
wherein a torso support member extends from the pelvis support member and
faces the first face of the pelvis support member,
wherein a first leg support extends from the pelvis support member and faces
30 the second face of the pelvis support member,
wherein said pelvis support member further exhibits at least one receptacle,
wherein a second leg support exhibits at least one connection member, and
wherein the method comprises, alternately:
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5
positioning the at least one connection member of the second leg support
within the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support member; and
not positioning the at least one connection member of the second leg
support within the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support member.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising alternately rotating a pelvis support
member about a position rotation axis by:
an upright angle range; and
a reclined angle range different than said upright angle range,
10 wherein said alternately positioning and not positioning the at least one
connection member of the second leg support within the at least one receptacle of the
pelvis support member is performed when the pelvis support member is rotated about
the position rotation axis by an angle within said upright angle range, and
wherein, when the pelvis support member is rotated about said position rotation
15 axis by an angle within said reclined angle range, the method further comprises not
positioning the at least one connection member of said second leg support within the at
least one receptacle of said pelvis support member.
15. The method of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the pelvis support member further
20 exhibits a first side and a second side opposing the first side, each of the first face and
the second face extending from the first side to the second side, and
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wherein the torso support member extends from the first side of the pelvis
support member and a pelvis extension member extends from the second side of the
pelvis support member.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein a distance between the first side and the second
side of the pelvis support member is less than 20 centimeters.
17. The method of claim 15 or claim 16, further comprising alternately rotating a pelvis
30 support member about a position rotation axis by:
an upright angle range; and
a reclined angle range different than said upright angle range,
wherein a distance between the first side and the second side of the pelvis
support member is large enough to support the pelvis of a patient, yet small enough to:
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allow the patient to be in a supine position when the pelvis support member and
the torso support member are rotated about the position rotation axis by an angle within
the reclined angle range; and
allow the patient to be in a standing position when the pelvis support member
5 and the torso support member are rotated about the position rotation axis by an angle
within the upright angle range.
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18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the torso support
member exhibits an angle with the pelvis extension member between 100- 120 degrees.
19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the first face of the
pelvis support member and a face of the pelvis extension member form a general T
shape.
15 20. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the at least one
receptacle of the pelvis support member extends into the second side thereof.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second side of the pelvis support member
exhibits a first section and a second section, the pelvis extension member separating the
20 second section from the first section, and
wherein the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support member exhibits a pair
of receptacles, each of the pair of receptacles extending into a respective one of the first
section and the second section of the second side of the pelvis support member.
25 22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein the second side of
the pelvis support member exhibits a first section and a second section, the pelvis
extension member separating the second section from the first section.
23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, wherein the pelvis extension
30 member exhibits a first face and a second face opposing the first face, and
wherein the pelvis support member or the pelvis extension member exhibits a
hole extending from the respective first face to the respective second face.
20
Dated this 23rd day of March 2023
Archana Shanker
Of Anand and Anand, Advocates
Agents for the Applicants
24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the torso support
member exhibits a first end a second end opposing the first end, the first end of the torso
support member extending from the first side of the pelvis support member,
wherein a head support extends from the second end of the torso support
5 member, and
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15
20
25
30
wherein the method further comprises:
positioning a booster on the first face of the pelvis support member; and
positioning a patient on said positioned booster, a height of said
positioned booster defined responsive to a difference between a height of the
patient and a position of the head support.
25. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 24, further comprising alternately
rotating a pelvis support member about a position rotation axis by:
an upright angle range; and
a reclined angle range different than said upright angle range,
wherein the method further comprises:
rotating the pelvis support member about the position rotation axis by a
predetermined angle within said reclined angle range;
subsequent to said rotation by said predetermined angle within said
reclined angle range, positioning a patient on said positioned booster; and
subsequent to said positioning of said patient, rotating the pelvis support
member about the position rotation axis to a predetermined angle within said
upright angle range.
26. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 25, wherein the first face of the
pelvis support member generally defines a plane and the second leg support extends
along the plane when the at least one connection member of the second leg support is
positioned within the at least one receptacle of the pelvis support member.