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HEAVY ION RADIATION THERAPY SYSTEM WITH STAIR-STEP MODULATION

  • US 20090212231A1
  • Filed: 02/27/2008
  • Published: 08/27/2009
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2007
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An therapeutic radiation modulator comprising:

  • an inlet receiving a fan beam of radiation comprised of adjacent beamlets traveling along axes, the fan beam having a cross-sectional area whose greatest dimension extends along a plane;

    a set of arrays of modulation elements, the arrays positioned side-by-side along the plane within the cross-sectional area, the modulation elements of each array aligned with a different beamlets, each modulation element movable between at least one extended position within the cross-sectional area and a retracted position outside of the cross-sectional area;

    a set of actuators communicating with each modulation element to independently actuate the modulation elements to move them between at least two discrete positions, one position out of the fan beam and at least one position in the fan beam; and

    wherein different modulation elements provide predetermined effective thicknesses so that a series of regular increments of energy reduction can be provided in different beamlets of the fan beam by selection of different combinations of the modulation elements for actuation.

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