A scintillation material is longitudinally packaged in a circumferentially surrounding sheath, where the sheath has a lower index of refraction than the scintillation material, to form a scintillation optic or scintillation fiber optic. The scintillation material yields secondary photons upon passage of a charged particle beam, such as a positively charged residual particle beam having transmitted through a sample. The internally generated secondary photons within the sheath are guided to a detector element by the difference in index of refraction. Multiple scintillation optics are assembled to form a two-dimensional scintillation array coupled to a two-dimensional detector array, such as for use in determination of state of the residual charged particle beam, determination of an exit point of the particle beam from the sample, path of the treatment beam, and/or tomographic imaging.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for tracking and/or imaging impact of a particle beam treating a tumor using one or more imaging systems positionable about the tumor, such as a positron emission tracking and/or imaging system, where resulting tracking/imaging data: dynamically determines a treatment beam position, tracks a history of treatment beam positions, guides the treatment beam, and/or images a tumor before, during, and/or after treatment with the charged particle beam.

An X-ray projection of a region of examination and an associated X-ray parameter are received via an interface, the X-ray projection including X-ray intensities in a first pixel set. The X-ray parameter relates to at least one X-ray voltage from an X-ray source. Scattered radiation intensity is determined in a second pixel set, the second pixel set being a subset of the first pixel set. A first calculation of first exposure parameters in the second pixel set then occurs, each of the first exposure parameters in a pixel of the second pixel set being based on the X-ray intensity in the pixel and the scattered radiation intensity in the pixel. Furthermore, a second calculation of a scalar second exposure parameter occurs based on the first exposure parameters and an adjustment of the X-ray parameter is performed by comparing the scalar second exposure parameter with a reference value.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for treating a tumor, comprising the steps of: (1) a main controller sequentially delivering charged particles from a synchrotron along a first beam transport line, through a nozzle system, and to the tumor according to a current version of the radiation treatment plan; (2) concurrent with the step of delivering, generating an image of the tumor using an imaging system; (3) the main controller automatically generating an updated version of the radiation treatment plan using the image, the updated version of the radiation treatment plan becoming the current version of the radiation treatment plan; and (4) repeating the steps of: delivering grouped bunches of the charged particles, generating an image of the tumor, and automatically generating the updated or current version of the radiation treatment plan with optional intervening doctor approval.

There is provided an X-ray Talbot capturing apparatus that emits X-rays in a cone beam shape from an X-ray generator, capable of producing gratings as easily as possible and of minimizing a production cost. An X-ray Talbot capturing apparatus 1 includes a G1 grating that is a phase grating, a G2 grating that is an absorption grating, a X-ray generator 11 that emits the X-rays, and an X-ray detector that includes a plurality of two-dimensionally arrayed conversion elements and captures a moire image Mo formed on the G2 grating. The G2 grating is located at a position where a self-image of the G1 grating 14 is formed, and both of the G1 grating and the G2 grating are in a plane shape. Slits of the G1 grating are formed to be perpendicular to a surface direction of a substrate on which the grating is formed, whereas slits of the G2 grating are formed to be parallel with the X-rays emitted in the cone beam shape from a focus F of the X-ray generator.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for imaging a tumor of a patient using one or more imaging systems positionable about the tumor and treating the tumor using positively charged particles, such as: (1) using a rotatable gantry support to support and rotate a section of a positively charged particle beam transport line about a rotation axis and a tumor of a patient; (2) using a rotatable and optionally extendable secondary support to support, circumferentially position, and laterally position a primary and optional secondary imaging system about the tumor; (3) image the tumor using the primary and optional secondary imaging system as a function of rotation and/or translation of the secondary support; and (4) treat, optionally concurrently with imaging, the tumor using the positively charged particles as a function of circumferential position of the section of the charged particle beam about the tumor.

An X-ray projection of a region of examination and an associated X-ray parameter are received via an interface, the X-ray projection including X-ray intensities in a first pixel set. The X-ray parameter relates to at least one X-ray voltage from an X-ray source. Scattered radiation intensity is determined in a second pixel set, the second pixel set being a subset of the first pixel set. A first calculation of first exposure parameters in the second pixel set then occurs, each of the first exposure parameters in a pixel of the second pixel set being based on the X-ray intensity in the pixel and the scattered radiation intensity in the pixel. Furthermore, a second calculation of a scalar second exposure parameter occurs based on the first exposure parameters and an adjustment of the X-ray parameter is performed by comparing the scalar second exposure parameter with a reference value.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for imaging a tumor of a patient using one or more imaging systems positionable about the tumor and treating the tumor using positively charged particles, such as a process of: (1) rotating a gantry support and/or gantry, connected to at least a portion of a beam transport system configured to pass a charged particle treatment beam, circumferentially about the patient and a gantry rotation axis; (2) translating a translatable imaging system past the patient on a path parallel to an axis perpendicular to the gantry rotation axis; (3) imaging the tumor using the translatable imaging system; and (4) treating the tumor using the rotatable treatment beam.

Apparatus and methods for therapy delivery are disclosed. In one embodiment, a therapy delivery system includes a plurality of movable components including a radiation therapy nozzle and a patient pod for holding a patient, a patient registration module for determining a desired position of at least one of the plurality of movable components, and a motion control module for coordinating the movement of the least one of the plurality of movable components from a current position to the desired position. The motion control module includes a path planning module for simulating at least one projected trajectory of movement of the least one of the plurality of moveable components from the current position to the desired position

X-ray scattering imaging can provide complementary information about the unresolved microstructures of a sample. The scattering signal can be accessed with various methods based on coherent illumination, which span from self-imaging to speckle scanning. The directional sensitivity of the existing methods is limited to a few directions on the imaging plane and it requires the scanning of the optical components, or the rotation of either the sample or the imaging setup, if the full range of possible scattering directions is desired. A new arrangement is provided that allows the simultaneous acquisition of the scattering images in all possible directions in a single shot. This is achieved by a specialized phase grating and a device for recording the generated interference fringe with sufficient spatial resolution. The technique decouples the sample dark-field signal with the sample orientation, which can be crucial for medical and industrial applications.