A phantom and method for quality assurance of a particle therapy apparatus used in the intensity modulated particle therapy (IMPT) mode is provided. The phantom comprises a frame structure having a first face and a second face that is parallel to the first face. The phantom further comprises one or more wedges, and a first and second block of material each having a first block face and a second block face parallel thereto. In addition, the phantom further includes an absolute dosimeter arranged at the first block face. A plurality of beads of high density material is located in the first or second block, and a 2D detector is arranged at the second face of the frame structure.

The present disclosure relates to a new scan technique for particle radiation therapy that may be used for cancer treatment. One embodiment relates to a method of mitigating interplay effect in particle radiation therapy in a moving target including a period of movement, where the particle radiation therapy defines a planned dose in each spot of each layer of the moving target. The method comprising dividing the planned dose in each spot into a number of spot repaintings; and generating a scan pattern for each layer by defining a beam-on time at each spot for each spot repainting, and calculating a wait time between consecutive beam-on times to distribute the spot repaintings for each spot of a respective layer are distributed over a duration of an integer number of periods of movement.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for generation of two-dimensional images using X-rays, proton tomography, and/or carbon ion tomography to form one or more independent and/or integrated three-dimensional images of a tumor, where the proton and carbon cation beams use common elements of a tumor treatment beam, such as an injector, accelerator, and/or beam transport device. A previously collected image of the tumor and/or a current/real-time image control slice is used in control of a multi-axes and/or a multi-field tumor irradiation system for cancer irradiation.

Interference of dose application in scanned ion beam therapy and organ motion, also called interplay effect, may lead to dose deviations at target volumes. Current repainting methods are susceptible to artifacts due to a predominant scanning direction, ranging from fringed field edges to under and overdosed regions (hot and cold spots). To overcome the difficulties inherent in the repainting techniques of conventional proton therapy systems, new random repainting techniques are described herein for mitigating the under-dose and/or over-dose pattern inherent in existing repainting techniques using a random repainting approach that randomly selects spot locations within the target area.

Systems and methods for radiation treatment planning in proton therapy using pencil beam scanning (PBS) are described. More particularly, the systems and methods described in the present disclosure related to quantifying the output from a proton therapy system implementing PBS. The systems and methods described in the present disclosure can therefore be implemented when commissioning a new proton therapy system, or when performing quality assurance (QA) on a proton therapy system. A spot delivery pattern that includes a spiral out pattern is used for beam delivery. A number of control points along the spot delivery pattern define a beam pause time during which delivery of the proton beam is paused. Radiation measurements are obtained at the control points and at the end of the spot delivery pattern, and these radiation measurements are used to compute field size factors for field sized associated with the segments of the spot delivery pattern.

The invention comprises a positively charged particle based cancer therapy system integrated with at least one off-axis imaging system, where elements of the off-axis imaging system and the cancer therapy system are co-positioned/co-rotated with a gantry. The imaging apparatus optionally functions with a tomography system using the positively charged particles of the cancer therapy system for enhanced patient/tumor imaging at and/or prior to a time of treatment.

The invention comprises a system for controlling a charged particle beam shape and direction relative to a controlled and dynamically positioned patient and/or an imaging surface, such as a scintillation plate of a tomography system and/or a first two-dimensional imaging system coupled to a second two-dimensional imaging system. Multiple interlinked beam/patient/imaging control stations allow safe zone operation and clear interaction with the charged particle beam system and the patient. Both treatment and imaging are facilitated using automated sequences controlled with a work-flow control system.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for treating a tumor of a patient with charged particles, comprising the step of developing a multi-modality treatment plan, the multi-modality treatment plan directing: (1) use of a first beam type to treat a first volume of the tumor, the first beam type a first mass per particle and (2) use of a second beam type to treat a second volume of the tumor, the second beam type comprising a second mass per particle, where the second mass per particle is at least ten percent different than the first mass per particle and the second volume differs from the first volume. The multi-modality treatment plan is optionally formed by selectively merging treatment plans using the respective particle types or is developed using properties of the multiple particle types.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for treating a tumor of a patient, comprising the steps of: (1) using a first treatment beam comprising electrons in a cancer therapy system used to treat the tumor, the electrons passing along a beam transport path from a synchrotron, through a beam transport system, through an exit nozzle, and toward the tumor and (2) using a second treatment beam to treat the tumor, the second treatment beam both generated using the synchrotron and penetrating into the tumor, where the second treatment beam comprises at least one of: (1) cations and (2) secondary X-rays emitted resultant from energy transfer from the electrons, where the cations are optionally used to image the tumor of the patient.

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for imaging and/or treating a tumor of a patient using multiple ion types, such as a cations with one, two, or more mass-to-charge ratios and/or electrons, where the multiple ion types are accelerated, at separate times, using a single accelerator, and the multiple ion types are used to treat different depths into a tumor of a patient, where the patient is optionally maintained in a single treatment position relative to a patient positioning system during treatment.