An example particle therapy system includes a particle beam output device to direct output of a particle beam; a treatment couch to support a patient containing an irradiation target, with the treatment couch being configured for movement; a movable device on which the particle beam output device is mounted for movement relative to the treatment couch; and a control system to provide automated control of at least one of the movable device or the treatment couch to position at least one of the particle beam or the irradiation target for treatment of the irradiation target with the particle beam and, following the treatment of the irradiation target with the particle beam, to provide automated control of at least one of the movable device or the treatment couch to reposition at least one of the particle beam or the irradiation target for additional treatment of the irradiation target with the particle beam.

A scanning magnet that deflects a charged particle beam has a winding U provided with grooves SL1 and SL4 provided at facing positions. A passing direction of a conductive wire forming the winding U passes through the groove SL1 in a γ-axis positive direction, and passes through the groove SL4 in a γ-axis negative direction. The winding U has a loop path SL1-SL4 in which the groove SL1 is directed to the γ-axis positive direction, and the groove SL4 is directed to the γ-axis negative direction. When a current flows in the γ-axis positive direction in a winding section U+ disposed in the groove SL1, a current flows in the γ-axis negative direction in a winding section U− disposed in the groove SL4. A yoke, the winding U, a winding V, and a winding W have a 120° rotationally symmetric structure with respect to a central axis of the yoke.

Treatment fields can be produced as part of a treatment plan that achieves a desired balance between field delivery time and dose based on machine parameters and knowledge, such as machine-specific beam production, transport and scanning logic, and/or a maximum treatment time value. The treatment parameters can be adjusted using a graphical user interface so that treatment time or dosimetry is prioritized. As a result, the overall treatment time is reduced, and hence treatment quality and patient experience are improved.

Radiation treatment planning includes accessing values of parameters such as a number of beams to be directed into sub-volumes in a target, beam directions, and beam energies. Information that specifies limits for the radiation treatment plan are accessed. The limits include a limit on irradiation time for each sub-volume outside the target. Other limits can include a limit on irradiation time for each sub-volume in the target, a limit on dose rate for each sub volume in the target, and a limit on dose rate for each sub-volume outside the target. The values of the parameters are adjusted until the irradiation time for each sub-volume outside the target satisfies the maximum limit on irradiation time.

A scanning magnet that deflects a charged particle beam has a winding U provided with grooves SL1 and SL4 provided at facing positions. A passing direction of a conductive wire forming the winding U passes through the groove SL1 in a γ-axis positive direction, and passes through the groove SL4 in a γ-axis negative direction. The winding U has a loop path SL1-SL4 in which the groove SL1 is directed to the γ-axis positive direction, and the groove SL4 is directed to the γ-axis negative direction. When a current flows in the γ-axis positive direction in a winding section U+ disposed in the groove SL1, a current flows in the γ-axis negative direction in a winding section U− disposed in the groove SL4. A yoke, the winding U, a winding V, and a winding W have a 120° rotationally symmetric structure with respect to a central axis of the yoke.

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving treatment information relating to a treatment plan for proton- or ion-beam therapy intended to irradiate a target tissue; receiving machine-limitation information relating to one or more limitations of one or more machines involved in the proton- or ion-beam therapy; determining a time-optimized beam current for a proton or ion beam based on the treatment information and the machine-limitation information, wherein the time-optimized beam current minimizes the time required to deliver a required quantity of monitor units to one of a plurality of spots, wherein each of the plurality of spots is a particular area of the target tissue; and delivering the time-optimized beam current to the particular area.

It is provided a method for generating a plurality of treatment plans for radiation therapy, each treatment plan specifying weights for a plurality of geometrically defined fluence elements. Each weight defines an amount of radiation fluence, to thereby provide radiation dose to a target volume. The method is performed in a treatment planning system and comprises the steps of: generating a first set of treatment plans; determining a subset of the fluence elements, based on the first set of treatment plans; and generating a second set of at least two treatment plans, wherein the treatment plans only contain weights for the subset of fluence elements.

A radiation therapy device includes an electron beam source (EBS) for generating an electron beam and a steering device for directing the electron beam. A target is disposed a predetermined distance from the EBS and is positioned to intercept the electron beam. The target element generates x-ray photons upon the impact of electrons with the target. A focusing lens is coupled to and spaced from the target by no more than 10 mm, and is positioned to receive x-ray photons generated by the target. The focusing lens focuses the x-ray photons to a focal point. The radiation therapy device can also include targets configured to generate x-ray beams for tomosynthesis. A method for performing radiation therapy is also disclosed.

An example computer-implemented method for tuning a beam spot in a radiation therapy system has been disclosed. The example method includes configuring an electron beam to generate a first beam spot on an electron-beam target of the radiation therapy system, generating, using an imager of the radiation therapy system, a first plurality of projection images of the first beam spot, wherein each of the projection images of the first beam spot is generated with a line of sight blocked between the imager and a different respective portion of the beam spot, based on the first plurality of projection images, determining a value for one or more beam spot quality metrics associated with the first beam spot, and based on the value, determining whether the first beam spot is outside a specified quality range.

Disclosed herein are methods for patient setup and patient target region localization for the irradiation of multiple patient target regions in a single treatment session. Virtual localization is a method that can be used to register a patient target region without requiring that the patient is physically moved using the patient platform. Instead, the planned fluence is updated to reflect the current location of the patient target region by selecting a localization reference in the localization image, calculating a localization function based on the localization reference point, and calculating the delivery fluence by convolving the localization function with a shift-invariant firing filter. Mosaic multi-target localization partitions a planned fluence map for multiple patient target regions into sub-regions that can be individually localized. De-coupled multi-target localization involves generating a separate planned fluence map for each target but constraining a cumulative fluence map to ensure dosimetric goals are met.