A particle therapy system includes a particle accelerator for generating a charged particle beam, a beam delivery device, a beam transport system for transporting the beam from the particle accelerator to the beam delivery device, and a supporting device for supporting a subject. The beam delivery device is rotatable around the target and with respect to the supporting device, so as to be able to deliver the beam to the target according to a plurality of irradiation angles. The system also includes a controller configured to make the beam delivery device rotate at a beam-on speed and meanwhile to irradiate the target with the beam. The controller is configured to make the beam delivery device rotate at at least two different beam-on speeds with respect to the supporting device, a first speed corresponding to a first irradiation angle and a second speed corresponding to a second irradiation angle.

Techniques are described herein for delivering a particle beam composed of a plurality of beamlets from a continuously rotating gantry towards a target, by determining a plurality of predefined spots on the target and configuring them into a set of smaller spots on the outside of the target and a set of larger spots on the inside of the target, optimizing the delivery of the rotating particle beam such that the inside edge and the outside edge of the arc of the rotating beam are delivered to the spots located at the center of the target, and the central component of the arc of the beam is delivered to the spots located at the outside of the target.

The invention comprises an apparatus for controlling tumor treatment with positively charged particles, comprising: a cancer therapy system, comprising a set of modular control units corresponding to a set of subsystems of the cancer therapy system; a first subsystem of the set of subsystems comprising an extraction system; and a second subsystem of the set of subsystems comprising a dual axis scanning system, the dual axis scanning system comprising: a first pair of magnets on opposite sides of a beam path chamber; a second pair of magnets on opposite sides of the beam path chamber; and a trapezoidal prism gap positioned between the first pair of magnets and the second pair of magnets, where communication from the cancer therapy system with each member of the set of subsystems occurs without direct communication between members of the set of subsystems.

According to a first aspect, it is presented a method for determining a treatment plan comprising a distribution of spots for use with ion beam therapy for providing the spots in a target volume. The method comprises the steps of: selecting energy layers to be used in the treatment plan; determining a number of spot sizes to use; generating, for each energy layer, one copy of the energy layer for each spot size to use and populating each copy with spots of the spot size for that copy; optimizing spots of all copies of all energy layers, by repeatedly varying a weight of at least a subset of the spots and calculating an effect on a performance measurement, wherein the performance measurement is calculated by combining a plurality of evaluation criteria, comprising a first criterion related to total treatment time and a second criterion related to a desired dose distribution.

A method of delivering a particle beam at a target is disclosed. In implementations, the particle beam is delivered from an output device at a plurality of control points and the method comprises the step of delivering a substantially continuous particle beam about the plurality of control points.

A method for creating an irradiation plan. The method may include receiving an irradiation therapy plan for irradiating a target with a proton beam from a gantry. The irradiation therapy plan may have a plurality of irradiation spots for delivering protons to the target. The method may include identifying a rotational profile for angular rotation of the gantry with respect to the target, a slew time for a proton beam to travel between each of the plurality of irradiation spots, and an amount of protons to be delivered to each irradiation spot. The method may also include creating an irradiation plan. The irradiation plan may include a plurality of groups of irradiation spots based on the rotational profile, the slew time, and the amount of protons to be delivered to each irradiation spot. Each group of irradiation spots may be associated with a respective portion of the angular rotation.

A system including a diagnostic-quality CT scanner for imaging a patient, the diagnostic-quality CT scanner having an imaging isocenter and a radiation therapy device positioned adjacent the diagnostic-quality CT scanner, the radiation therapy device including a gantry carrying a radiation therapy beam source and having a radiation therapy isocenter separate from the imaging isocenter of the diagnostic-quality CT scanner. The system including a couch configured to position the patient for imaging and for radiation therapy by translating the patient between the diagnostic quality CT scanner and the radiation therapy device.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for scanning charged particles in a cancer therapy system, comprising the steps of: (1) providing a first and second dipole magnet system and a gap, the gap comprising a common gap length, along a path of the charged particles, within both the first and second dipole magnet systems, the gap comprising a progressively increasing x/y-plane cross-section area from an entrance area of the charged particles into the double dipole magnet system to an exit area of the double dipole magnet system, the x/y-plane perpendicular to a z-axis from a center of the entrance area to a center of the exit area; (2) scanning the positively charged particles along a first axis of the x/y-plane using the first dipole magnet system; and (3) scanning the positively charged particles along a second axis of the x/y-plane using the second dipole magnet system.

Systems and methods provide radiotherapy treatment by focusing an electron beam on an x-ray target (e.g., a tungsten plate) to produce a high-yield x-ray output with improved field shaping. A modified electron beam spatial distribution is employed to scan the x-ray target, such as a 2D periodic beam path, which advantageously lowers the x-ray target temperature compared to the typical compact beam spatial distribution. As a result, the x-ray target can produce a high yield output without sacrificing the x-ray target life span. The use of a 2D periodic beam path allows a much colder x-ray target functioning regime such that more dosage can be applied in a short period of time compared to existing techniques.

A computing system comprising a central processing unit (CPU), and memory coupled to the CPU and having stored therein instructions that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to execute operations to generate a radiation treatment plan. The operations include accessing a minimum prescribed dose to be delivered into and across the target, determining a number of beams and directions of the beams, and determining a beam energy for each of the beams, wherein the number of beams, the directions of the beams, and the beam energy for each of the beams are determined such that the entire target receives the minimum prescribed dose. The operations further include prescribing a dose rate and optimizing dose rate constraints for FLASH therapy, and displaying a dose rate map of the FLASH therapy.