JP6139717B2 - Treatment planning device, particle beam treatment device, and method for determining scanning path of charged particle beam - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a scanning particle beam therapy apparatus used for cancer treatment and the like, and a treatment planning apparatus for the particle beam therapy apparatus.

  Radiation used for cancer treatment can be broadly divided into two types: photon beams and particle beams. A photon beam is a wave of light and is used as conventional radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays. On the other hand, particle beam refers to radiation using particles such as hydrogen nuclei and carbon nuclei, and in the medical field, in particular, protons obtained by ionizing hydrogen atoms and ions obtained by ionizing carbon atoms. Beams obtained by accelerating carbon ions (also called heavy ions) are mainly used.

  Particle beam therapy is based on the following principle. When the particle beam is irradiated to the cancer cells, the DNA of the cancer cells is damaged, and the cells that have been damaged beyond the repair ability gradually die and eventually are discharged out of the body. Whereas conventional photon-ray radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays acts near the surface of the body, particle beams have the characteristic that the absorbed dose reaches its peak just before stopping, so the energy is changed. Thus, the position where the absorbed dose reaches a peak (referred to as the Bragg peak) can be matched with the cancer lesion, and only the cancer lesion can be intensively destroyed. As described above, since an advantageous effect not found in the prior art can be obtained, particle beam therapy is increasingly expected as a treatment capable of maintaining QOL (Quality of Life).

  In order to perform the particle beam therapy effectively, it is necessary to shape the beam so as to give a sufficient dose to the affected tissue and not damage the surrounding tissue. Irradiation methods for realizing this beam shaping can be roughly divided into “broad beam irradiation method” and “scanning irradiation method”. The broad beam irradiation method is a method in which a beam once spread using a scatterer or a ridge filter is shaped using a collimator or a bolus. On the other hand, in the scanning irradiation method, the beam diameter remains thin (the beam in this state is referred to as “pencil beam”), and the pencil beam is scanned and irradiated like a point drawing (ON / OFF of the beam is changed). (Spot scanning) This refers to a method of irradiating like a stroke (raster scanning where the beam is in principle ON).

  Here, the scanning irradiation will be described in a little more detail, and the relationship with the treatment planning apparatus will be described. As described above, the feature of the particle beam is that it has a Bragg peak with a depth corresponding to energy. In order to give an appropriate irradiation dose to the affected tissue having a thickness in the depth direction of the body, the affected tissue is virtually divided into layers according to the beam energy, and the above-mentioned spot scanning or raster scanning is performed for each layer. Can be considered. In the Bragg peak of particle beam, the applied dose on the deeper side of the peak is almost zero, but there is a slight applied dose on the shallower side of the peak. It is necessary to decide the amount of irradiation in The treatment planning apparatus performs calculation and simulation for determining an irradiation dose of each spot of each layer in order to realize an appropriate applied dose from information of a three-dimensional image of the affected area taken in advance.

  One more thing to decide when performing the actual scanning exposure. That is, in what order each spot is irradiated in each layer, that is, how to determine the scanning path. The same applies to raster scanning if it is assumed that the irradiation is performed by tracing the trajectory connecting the spots. The treatment planning apparatus is usually responsible for determining the scanning path of scanning. Prior art relating to this scanning path of this scanning can be found in, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1.

JP 2009-66106 A

J.H.Kang et al., "Demonstration of scan path optimization in proton therapy" Medical Physics 34 (9) 2007, page 3457-3464

  Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method of extracting a path that shortens the distance of the scanning path. However, as will be described later, the path distance and the time required for scanning do not necessarily correspond one-to-one. Therefore, in the evaluation using the path distance as an index, the scanning path with the optimized scanning time is not necessarily selected. In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a treatment planning apparatus for obtaining a scanning path in which the scanning time is shortened in a raster scanning type particle beam therapy apparatus and irradiation avoidance to normal tissues and important organs is also considered. And a particle beam therapy system using the scanning path.

The treatment planning apparatus according to the present invention moves a charged particle beam by means of an X-direction scanning magnet and a Y-direction scanning magnet that scan the charged particle beam in two directions that are perpendicular to the traveling direction of the charged particle beam. In the treatment planning apparatus for determining the scanning path of the charged particle beam of the particle beam treatment apparatus that irradiates the affected area of the patient who is the irradiation target by scanning the stationary particle beam repeatedly, the stationary point of the charged particle beam A spot position storage unit that stores the spot position for each layer, and a scanning path candidate extraction unit that extracts a plurality of scanning path candidates that connect all spot positions in one layer stored in the spot position storage unit; , Based on the time spent scanning the charged particle beam in each of the plurality of candidate scanning paths extracted by the scanning path candidate extraction unit. A scanning path evaluation unit for evaluating the scanning path of, based on the result of evaluation in the scanning path evaluation unit, and a scanning path determination section that determines the scanning path used at the time of treatment, the scanning path candidate extraction unit, the grating The direction of the fast moving speed is set as the row direction among the moving speed of the charged particle beam by the X-direction scanning magnet and the moving speed of the charged particle beam by the Y-direction electromagnet among the arrangement directions of the spot positions arranged in a row, Start from the spot position at one end of the row at one end of the array of spot positions, set a route from this start point to the spot position at the other end of the row, and then the spot at the other end A route is set from the position to the spot position of the end point of the adjacent row, and further, the route setting is set to set the route from the spot position of the end point of the adjacent row to the other end point of the row. Return Set the zig-zag path as the scanning path, the zig-zag path, set all cases it is not possible to form a spot position, the loop path, or other zig-zag path in the spot position groups that could not be connecting in Layer one It was made to do.

  According to the treatment planning apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to provide a particle beam treatment apparatus that has a low risk of irradiation with a charged particle beam to other than the affected tissue and a short overall irradiation time.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the particle beam therapy apparatus containing the treatment planning apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 3 is a layout diagram showing spot positions and scanning paths for explaining the present invention. FIG. 4 is a layout diagram illustrating an example of a spot position and a scanning path for explaining a scanning path of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a layout diagram illustrating another example of a spot position and a scanning path for explaining the scanning path of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a layout diagram illustrating still another example of a spot position and a scanning path for explaining the scanning path of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the step of the treatment planning apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 5 is a layout diagram illustrating an example of a scanning path different from that in FIG. 4 at the same spot position as in FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is an arrangement diagram illustrating an example of a scanning path different from that in FIGS. 4 and 7 at the same spot position as in FIG. 4.

  Points that must be passed are given, and the problem of determining the route is formulated as "Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)". The typical traveling salesman problem is as follows. Given a set of cities and a travel cost (eg distance) between each two cities, find the one with the lowest total travel cost for a circuit that goes through all the cities exactly once and returns to the departure point (salesman This is a combinatorial optimization problem of finding the shortest route when a predetermined plurality of cities are visited only once.

  Therefore, when determining the beam scanning path in a scanning irradiation type particle beam therapy system, simply apply the above-mentioned traveling salesman problem and use a tool that solves the existing traveling salesman problem. It may be necessary to obtain a “route that becomes”. However, the method for obtaining the shortest distance path has problems in the following points.

  The scanning of the particle beam pencil beam is usually realized by two scanning electromagnets for X-direction deflection and Y-direction deflection. Although it is necessary to arrange a scanning electromagnet on the beam path, it is physically impossible to install the scanning electromagnet for X direction deflection and the scanning electromagnet for Y direction deflection at the same position. The scanning electromagnets for X-direction deflection and Y-direction deflection are arranged in parallel on the beam path. As a result, the distance from the isocenter that is the irradiation reference point is different, and the size of the electromagnet is also different. The scanning speed in the Y direction is also different. That is, there is a problem that even if the “path with the shortest distance” is obtained, it does not minimize the scanning time (treatment time).

  In order to solve the above problem, it is considered that the scanning area may be coordinate-converted based on the ratio of the scanning speed in the X direction and the scanning speed in the Y direction. For example, when the scanning speed in the X direction is 1 and the scanning speed in the Y direction is 2, if the scanning area is doubled in the Y-axis direction, the shortest distance path in the scanning area whose coordinates are converted is the shortest time path. Is the idea that

  However, the above-described coordinate conversion method does not solve the problem. This is evident from the simple example below. As described above, in the particle beam therapy system, beam scanning is performed by scanning electromagnets independent of each other in the X direction and the Y direction. As a result, when the scanning of the beam changes in both the X direction and the Y direction starting from a certain point, the scanning time is not proportional to the scanning distance, and “it takes longer between the scanning time in the X direction and the scanning time in the Y direction. It has the property of “the time of the other”. (For example, if the scanning speed in the X direction and the scanning speed in the Y direction are both 1, the distance when moving to 1 in the X direction and 1 in the Y direction is √2, but the scanning time is 1.)

In raster scanning, there is a further problem that it is not sufficient to simply select the “path with the shortest distance”. As described above, in the scanning irradiation method, the affected tissue is divided into layers and a beam is scanned for each layer. Even when the affected tissue as an irradiation target is one closed region, as a result of dividing into layers, there are cases where the irradiation region becomes two or more closed regions in a certain layer. Mathematically, this phenomenon occurs when the affected tissue to be irradiated is not a bounded Convex set. When the irradiation region in the layer becomes two or more closed regions, the region other than the irradiation region is irradiated when the beam travels between the regions. Simply determining the shortest distance route or the shortest time route does not consider the influence on the region other than the irradiation region. Furthermore, there may be a region where there is an important organ or the like and it is desired to avoid irradiation as much as possible. However, there is a problem that this influence is not taken into consideration.

  As a result of dividing the affected tissue, which is an irradiation target, into layers, even if there is one irradiation region in a certain layer, there is a case where it is not a Convex set. If the irradiation area is not a Convex set, depending on the obtained route, a phenomenon of passing through normal tissues and important organs may occur.

  In the first place, the traveling salesman problem relates to the optimization of the “loop” in which the starting point and the ending point coincide with each other as the name “traveling”. On the other hand, in the problem of the beam scanning path of raster scanning, the starting point and the ending point do not necessarily coincide. That is, in the case of the beam scanning path, it relates to optimization of the “path”, not the “loop”. However, if an optimum loop can be obtained, there is an advantage that any spot can be selected as a starting point. The above problems are first raised by the present inventors, and the present invention proposes a solution for solving the problems.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a particle beam therapy system including a therapy planning apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a charged particle beam 2 such as a proton beam or a carbon beam is output from an accelerator 1, and the charged particle beam 2 is guided to a beam irradiation system 4 by a beam transport system 3 composed of an electromagnet group or the like. The beam irradiation system 4 includes an X-direction scanning electromagnet 5 and a Y-direction which scan the incident charged particle beam 2 by deflecting the incident charged particle beam 2 in the XY direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the charged particle beam 2. A set of scanning electromagnets 7 of the scanning electromagnet 6 is provided. The scanning electromagnet 7 scans the charged particle beam 2 by deflecting the charged particle beam 2 so as to repeatedly move and stop in the X direction and the Y direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the charged particle beam. At this time, the charged particle beam 2 is irradiated even during the movement of the charged particle beam 2. On the other hand, the treatment planning device 20 makes an irradiation plan for the target 8 that is the affected part of the patient. Specifically, the three-dimensional volume region of the target 8 is scanned by matching the position of the Bragg peak formed by the charged particle beam 2 with the three-dimensional shape of the target 8 to form a dose region that matches the target shape. In addition, the spot position which is the stationary point of the charged particle beam at the target 8 and the irradiation dose at each spot position are determined. At the same time, among these spot position groups, a set of spot positions corresponding to the same particle beam energy is stored in the spot position storage unit 21 for each layer as an in-layer spot position in one layer.

  The scanning path candidate extraction unit 22 extracts a plurality of scanning path candidates for each layer based on the spot positions stored in the spot position storage unit 21. A scanning path candidate extraction method will be described in a second embodiment. It is an object of the present invention to determine, from among scanning path candidates for each layer, a path having a short scanning time and a scanning path in which the beam does not pass through an important organ during movement of the beam between spots. For this reason, in order to extract a path from which the beam does not pass through an important organ and the time required for scanning is the shortest from the scanning path candidates, the following evaluation function relating to the scanning path is introduced.

The evaluation function J is defined as follows:

However,
Tk: From the spot selected as kth to the spot selected as k + 1
Spent scanning the beam for the path (hereinafter referred to as the “kth partial path”)
Time wk: Weighting factor for “kth partial path”
When the k-th partial path is included in the affected tissue, wk = wkd = 1
When the kth partial path passes through normal tissue, wk = wko> 1
When the k-th partial path passes through an important organ, wk = wkO> wko

  In FIG. 2, spots arranged in a 2 × 2 grid are indicated by black circles for the sake of simplicity. For simplicity, the scanning time for the spot adjacent in the X direction is set to 1, and the Y direction is also set to 1. Here, it should be noted that the scanning time for the spot in the oblique direction is 1 instead of √2. This is because, as described above, scanning in the X direction and scanning in the Y direction are performed independently and simultaneously. Therefore, the Tk of the route from S11 to S21 and the Tk of the route from S11 to S22 are set to the same value. Thus, the first point of the present invention is to evaluate not the length of the path but the time spent scanning the beam for the path.

  Also, it should be noted that the evaluation function is “time spent scanning the beam”, not the time spent on actual irradiation. This is because actual irradiation must give the target dose determined in the treatment plan at each spot, and the charged particle beam repeatedly moves and stops. In order to distinguish from conventional raster scanning that scans at a constant speed, such an irradiation method may be referred to as hybrid scanning.

  On the other hand, when the path passes through normal tissue instead of the affected tissue, or when passing through a particularly important important organ among normal tissues, the weighting coefficient is increased by assuming that the path has a high risk. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the affected area is a separated area such as the affected area 81 and the affected area 82, some partial paths pass through other than the affected area. Further, there may be a case where an important organ 83 exists between the affected areas. As described above, the weight coefficient wk is set to 1 when the partial path is included in the affected tissue, and is set to be larger than 1 when passing through the normal tissue that is not the affected tissue, and passes through the important organ 83 that is not the affected tissue. If so, set a larger value. By setting the weighting factor wk in this way, the scanning path candidate in FIG. 3B is more preferable than the scanning path candidate including the partial path P11 passing through the normal tissue as in the scanning path in FIG. In addition, the evaluation function J of the scanning path candidate including the partial path P22 passing through the important organ 83 becomes larger.

  The scanning path evaluation unit 23 calculates the value of the evaluation function J for each of the plurality of scanning path candidates extracted by the scanning path candidate extraction unit 22. In the scanning path determination unit 24, based on the value of the evaluation function J calculated by the scanning path evaluation unit 23, the scanning path candidate having a smaller value of the evaluation function J is determined as a scanning path used for irradiation during treatment. . The scanning control unit 11 of the irradiation control apparatus 10 includes the X-direction scanning electromagnet 5 and the Y-direction scanning electromagnet so that the charged particle beam 2 moves along the target according to the scanning path determined by the scanning path determination unit 24 of the treatment planning apparatus 20. 6 is controlled.

  With the above configuration, a particle beam therapy apparatus can be obtained in which the scanning time is short, and the risk of irradiation with a particle beam particularly on an important organ is low among normal tissues and normal tissues.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The number of spots in one layer usually ranges from several thousand to several tens of thousands, although it varies depending on the size of the affected tissue as an irradiation target. Even when there are only 10 spots, the evaluation function is 10! = 3,628,800 ways (3,288,800 ways) will have to be calculated, so it is not realistic to do everything as feats. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a method for mechanically determining an optimal or sub-optimal scanning path in consideration of the special characteristics of scanning irradiation in particle beam therapy will be described.

  As described above, scanning irradiation in particle beam therapy is managed in units called “spots” in the irradiation region of each layer, and the spots are usually arranged in a lattice pattern. As described with reference to FIG. 2, for the spots arranged in a 2 × 2 grid, the scanning time for the spots adjacent in the X direction is 1 and the Y direction is also 1 similarly. Here, it should be noted that the scanning time for the spot in the oblique direction is 1 instead of √2. With the above in mind, the following theorem can be derived.

(Theorem 1)
For one or more spots arranged in a grid, if the scanning time to the grid (intersection) adjacent in the X direction is 1 and the Y direction is 1 as well, the scanning path passes through all the spots. The scanning time is n-1 or more. Here, n is the total number of spots.

(Theorem 2)
For one or more spots arranged in a grid, the scanning time for a grid (intersection) adjacent in the X direction is T _{min — x} , and the scanning time for a grid (intersection) adjacent in the Y direction is When T _{min — y} (where T _{min — y} > T _{min — x} ), the time for scanning along the scanning path that passes through all spots is (l−1) T _min — _y + (n−1) T _min — _x or more. Here, l is the number of grid rows in which spots are arranged. In addition, the necessary conditions for the existence of a scanning path in which the scanning time passing through all spots is (l−1) T _min — _y + (n−1) T _min — _x are as follows.
Condition 1: the irradiation area is one closed area, and
Condition 2: The irradiation area is a Convex when viewed in the X direction. Here, “Convex when viewed in the X direction” means that, when each row of the grid is viewed, all the rows where spots exist are arranged adjacent to each other. This means that there is one spot group.

  Theorem 1 describes the relationship between the number of spots and the shortest time to scan all the spots when the spots are arranged in a grid. Considering the case where a plurality of spots are arranged adjacent to each other on one row, it can be easily understood that the shortest time is n-1.

  Theorem 2 describes the relationship between the number of spots and the shortest time, as in Theorem 1, but takes into account the difference in scanning time between the X direction and the Y direction. When the scanning time in the X direction is shorter as in the assumption of Theorem 2, the path for scanning all spots in the shortest time is (a) the left end (or right end) of the top (or bottom) row. As a candidate, consider a path that starts from (b) scans toward the other end in the X direction, that is, scans a "row" and (c) moves to the end point of the next row. At this time, if the spots are always adjacent (left and right, up and down, oblique), it is the shortest time path. For the sake of simplicity, this scanning path is referred to herein as a “zigzag path”. When the scanning time in the Y direction is shorter, the path may be determined in the same way as described above with the Y direction as the row direction.

  Of course, depending on the shape of the affected tissue to be irradiated, not all spots can be scanned by this zigzag path. Therefore, here, a method for determining a scanning path in such a case will be described with reference to conceptual diagrams of FIGS. 4 to 7 and a flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the determination of the scanning path in four stages.
Step 1: Shows the irradiation area and spot in a certain layer. Step 2: Draw a portion where a zigzag path can be drawn from the above-mentioned starting point (here, the left end of the top row) (partial optimum for the zigzag path) (ST1) .
Step 3: Consider whether it is possible to optimize the part other than the zigzag path (ST2). If the remaining part becomes a loop as in the spot group 84 of FIG. 4 (ST2 YES, ST3), the process proceeds to Step 4 for the loop part.
Step 4: If the zigzag path and the loop of stage 3 are adjacent to each other via two adjacent spots, the zigzag path and the loop are connected as shown (ST4 NO, ST5). If there are remaining spots, the process returns to step 3 (ST4 YES).

  In some cases, the method shown in FIG. 4 cannot always be solved (ST2 NO). That is a case where spots other than the zigzag path are arranged one-dimensionally and do not form a loop. In stage 3 of FIG. 5, in addition to the spot group 85 in which the remaining portion is a loop, there are paths of spot groups 86 and spot groups 87 arranged one-dimensionally. Therefore, in such a case, consider that the path is formally handled as a loop (ST6). “Formally treated as a loop” means setting a route so as to reciprocate with respect to a group of spots arranged one-dimensionally as shown in the diagram of stage 4 in FIG. In this case, the same spot will be passed twice, but at the spot, the dwell time may be distributed so that the twice irradiation dose becomes the target dose in the treatment plan. A method of irradiating the same spot multiple times with different irradiation doses is known as “repaint irradiation”. In the present invention, a “partial repaint” method for repainting only the remaining path portion is proposed. The part which is treated as a loop formally is also connected as a loop, and the zigzag path and the loop are connected (ST5).

  Next, scanning path candidates when the starting point is changed in the spot arrangement shown in FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 7 shows scanning path candidates when the left end of the bottom row is the starting point. First, in stage 2, a zigzag path is drawn from the starting point. In step 3, a route is drawn for the remaining spot group 88. The spot group 88 is a spot group arranged one-dimensionally. In stage 4, the zigzag path drawn in stage 2 is connected to the one-dimensional path drawn in stage 3.

  FIG. 8 shows scanning path candidates when starting from the right end of the uppermost row in the right region. First, in step 2, a zigzag path is drawn from the starting point. In step 3, an optimum route is drawn for the remaining spot group 89. Since a zigzag path can be drawn here, a zigzag path is drawn. In Step 4, connect the two zigzag paths.

When a plurality of zigzag paths are drawn, the end points of the zigzag paths must be connected in series, that is, the partial paths must be connected in series to finally become one path. In this case, there are several possible combinations of which end point is the starting point. As shown in FIG. 8, there are two partial paths A and B, the end points of the partial path A are A1 and A2, respectively, and the end points of the partial path B are B1 and B2, respectively. Then the final route is
A1 → A2 → B1 → B2
A2 → A1 → B1 → B2
A1 → A2 → B2 → B1
A2 → A1 → B2 → B1
Thus, a total of eight patterns in the reverse order can be considered. Step 4 in FIG. 8 depicts a path of A1 → A2 → B1 → B2 where the distance connecting the end points is the shortest and the evaluation function J is considered to be small.

  As described with reference to FIG. 4, the scanning path candidate extraction unit 22 extracts a path with priority given to the method of using the remaining spots as a loop path based on one zigzag path, and further as illustrated in FIG. In addition, a plurality of zigzag paths can be extracted and connected in series to extract a plurality of scanning path candidates.

  Scanning when the value of the evaluation function J described in the first embodiment is calculated for the plurality of scanning path candidates extracted as described above, and the affected path of the patient is irradiated with the scanning path having the smallest value of the evaluation function J Determine as a route. Thereby, the number of scanning path candidates can be reduced, and a particle beam therapy apparatus can be obtained in which the scanning time is short and the risk of irradiation of the particle beam with respect to the important organ is small among normal tissues and normal tissues.

  In the present invention, the embodiments can be appropriately modified and omitted within the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Charged particle beam, 5 ... X direction scanning electromagnet, 6 ... Y direction scanning electromagnet, 7 ... Scanning electromagnet, 8 ... Target (affected part), 10 ... Irradiation control apparatus, 11 ... Scanning control part, 20 ... Treatment planning apparatus, 21 ... Spot position storage unit, 22 ... Scan path candidate extraction unit, 23 ... Scan path evaluation unit, 24 ... Scan path determination unit, 83 ... Important organ,

Claims (5)

The charged particle beam is scanned by the X-direction scanning magnet and the Y-direction scanning magnet that scan the charged particle beam in the X direction and the Y direction, which are two directions perpendicular to the traveling direction of the charged particle beam. Then, in a treatment planning apparatus for determining a scanning path of the charged particle beam of a particle beam therapy apparatus that irradiates an affected area of a patient to be irradiated with the charged particle beam,
A spot position storage unit that stores spot positions arranged in a lattice pattern in the X direction and the Y direction, which are stationary points of the charged particle beam set in the affected part, for each layer;
A scanning path candidate extraction unit that extracts a plurality of scanning path candidates connecting all spot positions in one layer stored in the spot position storage unit;
A scanning path evaluation unit that evaluates each scanning path based on time spent to scan the charged particle beam in each of a plurality of candidate scanning paths extracted by the scanning path candidate extraction unit;
A scanning path determination unit that determines a scanning path to be used at the time of treatment based on the result of evaluation in the scanning path evaluation unit;
With
The scanning path candidate extraction unit includes a moving speed of the charged particle beam by the X-direction scanning magnet and a moving speed of the charged particle beam by the Y-direction electromagnet among the arrangement directions of the spot positions arranged in the grid pattern. Among them, the direction of the fast moving speed is set to the row direction, and the spot position at one end of the row at one end of the row of the spot position is set as the starting point, and the spot at the other end from the starting point is set as the starting point. A route is set toward the position, and further, a route is set from the spot position at the other end to the spot position at the end point of the adjacent row. Repeat the path setting to set the path toward the end point, set the zigzag path as the scanning path,
When all the spot positions in the said one layer cannot be connected by the said zigzag path | route, a loop path | route or another zigzag path | route is set in the spot position group which could not be connected.   The scanning path candidate extraction unit is arranged in a one-dimensional array when a spot position group arranged in one dimension remains without connecting all spot positions in the one layer by a zigzag path or a loop path. The treatment planning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spot position group sets a loop path by a reciprocating path. The treatment planning device according to claim 1 or 2,
An X-direction scanning electromagnet and a Y-direction scanning electromagnet;
A particle beam therapy system comprising: an irradiation control device including a scanning control unit that controls the X-direction scanning electromagnet and the Y-direction scanning electromagnet according to a scanning path determined by the scanning path determination unit. The charged particle beam is scanned by the X-direction scanning magnet and the Y-direction scanning magnet that scan the charged particle beam in the X direction and the Y direction, which are two directions perpendicular to the traveling direction of the charged particle beam. In the charged particle beam scanning path determination method, the treatment planning apparatus provided in the particle beam therapy system that irradiates the affected area of the patient to be irradiated with the charged particle beam determines the scanning path of the charged particle beam. ,
A spot position storage step for storing, for each layer, spot positions arranged in a lattice shape in the X direction and the Y direction, which are stationary points of the charged particle beam set in the affected area;
A scanning path candidate extracting step for extracting a plurality of scanning path candidates connecting all spot positions in one layer stored in the spot position storing step;
A scanning path evaluation step for evaluating each scanning path based on time spent scanning the charged particle beam in each of the plurality of candidate scanning paths extracted in the scanning path candidate extraction step;
A scanning path determination step for determining a scanning path to be used at the time of treatment based on the evaluation result in this scanning path evaluation step;
Including
In the scanning path candidate extraction step, the moving speed of the charged particle beam by the X-direction scanning magnet and the moving speed of the charged particle beam by the Y-direction electromagnet among the arrangement directions of the spot positions arranged in the grid pattern are determined. Among them, the direction of the fast moving speed is set to the row direction, and the spot position at one end of the row at one end of the row of the spot position is set as the starting point, and the spot at the other end from the starting point is set as the starting point. A route is set toward the position, and further, a route is set from the spot position at the other end to the spot position at the end point of the adjacent row. Repeat the path setting to set the path toward the end point, set the zigzag path as the scanning path,
When all the spot positions in the one layer cannot be connected by the zigzag path, a loop path or another zigzag path is set in the spot position group that cannot be connected. Scan path determination method.   In the scanning path candidate extraction step, if all spot positions in the one layer cannot be connected by a zigzag path or a loop path and a spot position group arranged in one dimension remains, the spot position group is arranged in the one dimension. 5. The charged particle beam scanning path determination method according to claim 4, wherein the spot position group sets a loop path by a reciprocating path.

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