Apparatus for proton radiography
First Claim
1. An apparatus for performing diagnostic proton radiography of a human subject comprising:
- a source of negative hydrogen ions;
a synchrotron connected to the source to receive the negative hydrogen ions and accelerate them in an orbit to a precisely controlled predetermined value of energy;
means connected to the synchrotron for stripping the accelerated negative hydrogen ions to produce a beam of protons and extract the beam from the synchrotron;
means for disposing the human subject in the beam of protons;
means for sweeping the beam of protons in a predetermined pattern to traverse a portion of the human subject;
a proton detector disposed to receive the portion of the beam that traverses the human subject and to detect a parameter of the protons received thereat; and
display means connected to the sweeping means and the detecting means to produce from information about beam position and beam intensity a proton radiograph of the subject.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for effecting diagnostic proton radiography of patients in hospitals comprises a source of negative hydrogen ions, a synchrotron for accelerating the negative hydrogen ions to a predetermined energy, a plurality of stations for stripping extraction of a radiography beam of protons, means for sweeping the extracted beam to cover a target, and means for measuring the residual range, residual energy, or percentage transmission of protons that pass through the target. The combination of information identifying the position of the beam with information about particles traversing the subject and the back absorber is performed with the aid of a computer to provide a proton radiograph of the subject. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a back absorber comprises a plurality of scintillators which are coupled to detectors.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An apparatus for performing diagnostic proton radiography of a human subject comprising:
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a source of negative hydrogen ions; a synchrotron connected to the source to receive the negative hydrogen ions and accelerate them in an orbit to a precisely controlled predetermined value of energy; means connected to the synchrotron for stripping the accelerated negative hydrogen ions to produce a beam of protons and extract the beam from the synchrotron; means for disposing the human subject in the beam of protons; means for sweeping the beam of protons in a predetermined pattern to traverse a portion of the human subject; a proton detector disposed to receive the portion of the beam that traverses the human subject and to detect a parameter of the protons received thereat; and display means connected to the sweeping means and the detecting means to produce from information about beam position and beam intensity a proton radiograph of the subject. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10)
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8. An apparatus for making proton radiographs of an object comprising:
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a source of negative hydrogen ions; a synchrotron connected to the source to receive the negative hydrogen ions and accelerate them in an orbit to a precisely controlled predetermined value of energy of the order of 200 MeV; means connected to the synchrotron for stripping the accelerated negative hydrogen ions to produce a beam of protons and extract the beam from the synchrotron; means for disposing the object in the beam of protons; means for sweeping the beam of protons in a predetermined pattern to traverse a portion of the object; means for detecting a parameter of the beam of protons that has traversed the object; means for generating a visual display of the parameter as a function of the predetermined pattern, which visual display is a proton radiograph of the object. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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Specification