Accelerator system and medical accelerator facility

• US 20030048080A1
• Filed: 03/20/2002
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Tanaka, Masanobu, Amemiya, Kensuke, Hiramoto, Kazuo, Hara, Shigemitsu
• Granted Patent: US 6,800,866 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/500
• CPC Class Codes: G21K 5/04 with beam-forming means
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 13/04 Synchrotrons
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 7/00 Details of devices of the types covered by groups H05H9/00, H05H11/00, H05H13/00

Abstract

To provide an accelerator system having a wide ion beam current control range, being capable of operating with low power consumption and a long maintenance interval and being capable of preventing unnecessarily large does of the ion beam for irradiation from erroneously being supplied to the downstream side of the system.

In an accelerator system designed to treat the patient with irradiation of a high-energy ion beam accelerated by a post-accelerator 4 comprising a synchrotron in irradiation rooms 6 to 8, a value of ion beam current to be supplied to the post-accelerator 4 is controlled by a pre-accelerator comprising an ion source 10, quadrupole electromagnet 15, radio frequency quadrupole accelerator 17 and a drift tube type accelerator 19.

The accelerator system featuring low power consumption, a long maintenance interval and high reliability can be made available.

Claims

1. An accelerator system comprising:

a pre-accelerator including an ion source; and

a post-accelerator for accelerating an ion beam supplied from the pre-accelerator and transporting the ion beam to an irradiation portion for irradiating a target in an irradiation room with the ion beam;

wherein a value of ion beam current, with which the target in the irradiation room is irradiated, is controlled by the pre-accelerator.

2. The accelerator system according to claim 1, wherein said ion source comprises at least one of a radio frequency discharge type ion source and a microwave discharge type ion source.

3. The accelerator system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said pre-accelerator is provided with a beam focusing system, and the value of ion beam current is controlled by controlling a focusing power of the beam focusing system.

4. The accelerator system according to claim 1 through claim 3, wherein the pre-accelerator comprises at least one of a radio frequency linear accelerator, a radio frequency quadrupole accelerator and a drift tube type accelerator, while the value of ion beam current is controlled by controlling at least one of said accelerators or by controlling at least one of the two different accelerators which are to be used in combination.

5. The accelerator system according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said post-accelerator comprises a synchrotron or a cyclotron, or a combination of the synchrotron and the cyclotron.

6. The accelerator system according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the value of ion beam current is controlled according to a predetermined treatment procedure for treatment in the irradiation room.

7. The accelerator system according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said ion beam is a proton beam.

8. A medical accelerator facility comprising the accelerator system according to any of claims 1 to 7, which is used as a medical accelerator.