USPTO Patent Granted for Monte Carlo Dose Calculation

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Health Informatics (G16H)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted a patent (US12586670B2) for a system and method for fast Monte Carlo dose calculation using a virtual source model. This innovation is intended to improve the accuracy and efficiency of radiotherapy planning.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12586670B2 for a novel system and method for fast Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation in radiotherapy. The invention utilizes a virtual source model (VSM) to process CT images, organ segmentation, and radiotherapy plans, aiming to generate more accurate simulated dose images for treatment planning. The patent was filed on November 17, 2021, and granted on March 24, 2026.

This patent grant is primarily an informational event for entities involved in medical device development and radiation therapy technology. While it does not impose new regulatory obligations, it signifies a technological advancement in the field. Companies developing or utilizing radiotherapy planning software, particularly those focused on dose calculation algorithms, should be aware of this patented technology. No immediate compliance actions are required, but it may influence future product development and intellectual property strategies in health informatics and medical device sectors.

Source document (simplified)

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System and method for fast Monte Carlo Dose calculation using a virtual source model

Grant US12586670B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Inventors

James Castle, Quan Chen, Xue Feng

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for fast Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation using a virtual source model (VSM). The method includes: receiving three-dimensional (3D) CT images obtained by a CT system; receiving 3D planned dose images, 3D organ segmentation contour images, and radiotherapy plans generated by a treatment planning system (TPS); processing 3D CT images, 3D planned dose images, 3D organ segmentation contour images to have the same spatial resolution and matrix size; further processing 3D CT images to convert image intensity to 3D density maps; processing the radiotherapy plans to generate instructions on how to simulate plan delivery; building VSM using inverse cumulative density function (CDF) tables for the simulation of radiotherapy plans, wherein the step of building VSM comprises: receiving output data files containing phase-space information for the radiation output of a specific medical linear accelerator treatment head; calculating the probability of the inplane and crossplane positions of the radiation particles reverse transported from the phase-space surface back to the treatment head; calculating the Gaussian means and standard deviations of the radiation particles' positions at the treatment head; calculating the probabilities for the source of each radiation particle; calculating the probabilities for the medical linear accelerator treatment head to produce different radiation particle species; binning the inplane position probability information of radiation particles into a single histogram for each source and radiation particle species; binning the crossplane position probability information of radiation particles into histograms for each bin of the inplane position histogram for each source and radiation particle species; binning the inplane direction cosine probability information of radiation particles into histograms for each bin of the inplane position histogram for each source and radiation particle species; binning the crossplane direction cosine probability information of radiation particles into histograms for each bin of the crossplane position histogram for each source and radiation particle species; binning the kinetic energy probability information of radiation particles into radially binned histograms for each source and radiation particle species; converting probability densities for inplane and crossplane positions, inplane and crossplane direction cosines, and kinetic energies histograms into cumulative probability densities for each source and radiation particle species; and inverting cumulative probability densities and converting into probability binned inverse CDF tables; simulating and transporting external beams using VSM through virtual treatment machines to the 3D density maps according to radiotherapy plans to produce 3D simulated dose images; and post-processing the 3D planned dose images, 3D organ segmentation contour images, and the 3D simulated dose images to obtain a final report comparing planned versus simulated dose images.