The invention relates to a drum assembly for a linear accelerator, the drum assembly comprising a drum having a front face including a front rim and a rear face including a rear rim, one or more support wheels supporting the drum, an arm extending from the front face of the drum and including a beam collimator through which a beam of radiation is emitted to form a radiation isocentre. One or more rear rim members are associated with the rear rim, the rear rim members adapted to substantially offset isocentre distortion due to unintended movement of the drum assembly. The invention also relates to variants thereto and combinations thereof.

A beam diffuser selector apparatus, system and method for use with a particle accelerator. A movable member has a plurality of beam diffusers mounted thereon, each having a different predetermined thickness. A driving device is coupled to the movable member. The driving device is configured to selectively move the movable member such that a selected one of the beam diffusers is positioned in a test position which is adjacent to an output of the particle accelerator and between the output of the particle accelerator and a device under test. A controller is coupled to the driving device. The controller has a user interface for receiving commands selecting a particular one of the plurality of beam diffusers and provides control signals to the driving device to selectively move the movable member such that the selected one of the plurality of beam diffusers is positioned in the test position.

A compact lightweight gantry for a proton therapy system that has a source-to-axis distance (SAD) of less than 2 m and can deliver a proton beam of superior quality. The reduced SAD leads to reduced requirements on the maximum magnetic fields that can be generated by the bend magnets in the gantry beamline. Correspondingly, lightweight bend magnets can be used. The various components in the gantry beamline are optimized to achieve a beam spot size of approximately 4 mm sigma or less through a pencil beam scanning nozzle disposed downstream of the final bending magnet. In addition, the proton therapy system is configured to operate at a maximum beam energy in the range of 220-230 MeV.

A particle therapy system includes a particle accelerator to output a particle beam; and a scanning system for the particle accelerator to scan the particle beam across at least part of an irradiation target. The scanning system is configured to scan the particle beam in two dimensions that are at an angle relative to a direction of the particle beam. A structure defines an edge. The structure is controllable to move in the two dimensions relative to the irradiation target such that at least part of the structure is between at least part of the particle beam and the irradiation target. The structure includes a material that inhibits transmission of the particle beam.

An example method includes: receiving, from a treatment planning process, information that is based on a dose distribution for an irradiation target; and performing at least one of the following operations: moving structures to trim spots of a particle beam so that the spots of the particle beam approximate pre-trimmed spots for which characteristics are obtained based on the information received; moving structures to produce a trimming curve for a layer of an irradiation target based on a specification of a trimming curve for the layer included in the information received; moving structures to produce a single trimming curve for all radiation fields of an irradiation target based on specifications of the single trimming curve included in the information received; or moving structures based on configuration information for the structures in the information received.

A hadron therapy system that provides 3D scanning and rapid delivery of a high dose. Such systems can include a hadron source and accelerator with an RF energy modulator and an RF deflector that operate in combination to provide 3D scanning of a targeted tissue. The systems can include a permanent magnet quadrupole for magnification of the beam. The systems can include high energy hadron sources that utilize a multi-cell, multi-klystron design that achieves scanning of high energy hadron beams, for example a fixed energy of 200 MeV protons. Such systems can provide full irradiation of a liter scale tumor within one second or less.

Disclosed herein is a waveguide for use in a linear accelerator. The waveguide comprises cells arranged to receive a beam of charged particles therethrough along a particle path, and is configured to receive an electromagnetic field from a source of electromagnetic radiation. A plurality of the cells are individually switchable cells, with each individually switchable cell comprising a respective switch configured to adjust the supply of electromagnetic radiation to the individually switchable cell.

An example method includes: receiving, from a treatment planning process, information that is based on a dose distribution for an irradiation target; and performing at least one of the following operations: moving structures to trim spots of a particle beam so that the spots of the particle beam approximate pre-trimmed spots for which characteristics are obtained based on the information received; moving structures to produce a trimming curve for a layer of an irradiation target based on a specification of a trimming curve for the layer included in the information received; moving structures to produce a single trimming curve for all radiation fields of an irradiation target based on specifications of the single trimming curve included in the information received; or moving structures based on configuration information for the structures in the information received.

A fusion reactor includes a columnating panel disposed between the positive electrode and negative electrode for channeling deuterium ions along predetermined paths that are likely to lead to fusion-producing collisions with previous deuterium ions. Deuterium ions are introduced to the reactor adjacent to the positive electrode, and then pass from the columnating panel, through a reduced pressure chamber, and then proceed towards the negative electrode. Once the deuterium ions strike the negative electrode, they remain attached to the negative electrode so that subsequent deuterium ions following the same channels through the columnating panel are more likely to collide with them.

An example particle therapy system may include: a synchrocyclotron to produce a particle beam; a scanner to move the particle beam in one or more dimensions relative to an irradiation target; and an energy degrader that is between the scanner and the irradiation target. The energy degrader may include multiple plates that are movable relative to a path of the particle beam, with the multiple plates each being controllable to move while in the path of the particle beam and during movement of the particle beam. An aperture may be between the energy degrader and the irradiation target. The aperture being may be to trim the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target.