CONTROL DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING AN IRRADIATION PROCEDURE, PARTICLE THERAPY UNIT, AND METHOD FOR IRRADIATING A TARGET VOLUME

• US 20090032742A1
• Filed: 07/29/2008
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Particle Therapy GmbH & Company KG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: van Habelt, Peter, Kaiser, Werner
• Granted Patent: US 8,071,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/503.100
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1087 Ions; Protons
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/10 X-ray therapy; Gamma-ray therapy; Particle-irradiation therapy A61N5/01 takes precedence

Abstract

The present embodiments relate to a control device for controlling an irradiation procedure, which is designed in such a way that a target volume is irradiated by at least two irradiation procedures. In each irradiation procedure, an energy of a particle beam is varied in such a way that the target volume is irradiated layer-wise in layers that are spatially arranged one behind another. A sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the irradiation procedures is varied from irradiation procedure to irradiation procedure, in terms of a direction of incidence of the particle beam.

Claims

1. A control device for controlling an irradiation procedure in a particle therapy unit, the control device being operable to control at least two irradiation procedures of a target volume,

wherein the control device is operable to vary an energy of a particle beam in the at least two irradiation procedures in such a way that the target volume is irradiated layer-wise in layers that are spatially arranged one behind another, and

wherein the control device is operable vary a sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the at least two irradiation procedures from a first of the at least two irradiation procedures to a second of the at least two irradiation procedures, in terms of a direction of incidence of the particle beam.

2. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device is operable to control the at least two irradiation procedures in such a way that the sequence of layers that are irradiated in the first of the at least two irradiation procedures runs in an alternate direction from a sequence of layers that irradiated in the second of the at least two irradiation procedures in terms of the direction of incidence.

3. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sequence in which the layers are irradiated in an irradiation procedure is changed from a first irradiation procedure to a second irradiation procedure in such a way that in the transition from the first irradiation procedure to the second irradiation procedure an identical layer or adjacent layers are irradiated.

4. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the same layers of the target volume are irradiated in the at least two irradiation procedures.

5. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein different layers of the target volume are irradiated in the at least two irradiation procedures.

6. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a direction of incidence of the particle beam remains identical from a first irradiation procedure to a second irradiation procedure in the at least two irradiation procedures.

7. The control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a direction of incidence of the particle beam is varied from a first irradiation procedure to a second irradiation procedure in the at least two irradiation procedures.

8. A particle therapy unit, comprising

a particle source that is operable to generate particles,

an accelerator that is operable to accelerate the particles and to provide a high-energy particle beam,

a high-energy beam transport system is operable to direct a particle beam formed of the accelerated particles into an irradiation chamber,

an energy adjusting device that is operable to adjust the energy of the particle beam, and

a control device that is operable to control an irradiation procedure as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, with which device the energy adjusting device can be controlled.

9. The particle therapy unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein the accelerator and/or the high-energy beam transport system include at least one superconducting magnet.

10. The particle therapy unit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the energy of the particle beam is adjusted using the energy adjusting device in the direction of the beam upstream of the superconducting magnet, and wherein a magnetic field that is generated by the at least one superconducting magnet is synchronized with the energy of the particle beam.

11. A method for controlling the energy of a particle beam during an irradiation of a target volume in which a target volume is irradiated using at least two irradiation procedures, the method comprising:

varying an energy of a particle beam such that in the at least two irradiation procedures the target volume is irradiated layer-wise in layers that are spatially arranged one behind another, and a sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the at least two irradiation procedures is varied from a first of the at least two irradiation procedures to a second of the at least two irradiation procedures, in terms of a direction of incidence of the particle beam.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sequence of layers that are irradiated in one irradiation procedure runs in alternate directions from irradiation procedure to irradiation procedure in terms of the direction of incidence.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the irradiation procedures is varied in such a way that, in the transition from the first of the at least two irradiation procedure to the second of the at least two irradiation procedures, an identical layer or adjacent layers is/are irradiated.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the same layers of the target volume are irradiated in the at least two irradiation procedures.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein different layers of the target volume are irradiated in the at least two irradiation procedures.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a direction of incidence of the particle beam remains identical from the first of the at least two irradiation procedures to the second of the at least two irradiation procedures.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a direction of incidence of the particle beam is varied from the first of the at least two irradiation procedures to the second of the at least two irradiation procedures.

18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the energy of the particle beam is adjusted before the particle beam is directed by a superconducting magnet of an accelerator or of a high-energy beam transport system.

19. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the irradiation procedures is varied in such a way that, in the transition from the first of the at least two irradiation procedures to the second of the at least two irradiation procedures, an identical layer or adjacent layers is/are irradiated.