Particle beam irradiation apparatus, treatment planning unit, and particle beam irradiation method

• US 7,122,811 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2005
• Issued: 10/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nakayama, Takahide, Matsuda, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Berman, Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): YANTORNO, JENNIFER M
• Application Number:
  US11/236,621
• Publication Number:
  US 20060027766A1
• Time in Patent Office: 384 Days
• Field of Search: 250/492.3
• US Class Current: 250/492.3
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1042 with spatial modulation of the radiation beam within the treatment head
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1043 Scanning the radiation beam, e.g. spot scanning or raster scanning
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1044 with multiple repetitions of the scanning pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G21K 1/08 Deviation, concentration or focusing of the beam by electric or magnetic means electron-optical arrangements in electric discharge tubes H01J29/46; details, e.g. electric or magnetic deviating means for direct voltage accelerators or in accelerators using single pulses H05H5/02; arrangements for injecting particles into orbits H05H7/08; arrangements for ejecting particles from orbits H05H7/10
• CPC Class Codes: G21K 5/04 with beam-forming means
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 7/04 Magnet systems , e.g. undulators, wigglers free-electron laser H01S3/0903; Energisation thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 7/10 Arrangements for ejecting particles from orbits

Abstract

A particle beam irradiation apparatus includes a synchrotron, two scanning electromagnets, an beam delivery apparatus for outputting an ion beam extracted from the synchrotron, and an accelerator and transport system controller, and a scanning controller. These controllers stop the output of the ion beam from the beam delivery apparatus; in a state where the output of the ion beam is stopped, change the irradiation position of the ion beam by controlling the scanning electromagnets; and after this change, control the scanning electromagnets to start the output of the ion beam from the beam delivery apparatus and to perform irradiations of the ion beam to at least one irradiation position a plurality of times based on treatment planning information.

Claims

1. A treatment planning unit for creating a treatment plan to perform the treatment with respect to an affected part, the treatment planning unit comprising:

an input unit;

a computing unit that sets a plurality of layer regions that are different in irradiation energy from each other in the irradiation direction of a charged particle beam, in a target including an affected part set using tomography image information including information on the affected part, that sets a plurality of irradiation positions of the charged particle beam in each of these layer regions, that using an irradiation dose and a reference irradiation dose with respect to each irradiation position set in each layer region, sets the number of times of irradiations of the charged particle beam with respect to each of the irradiation regions set in each of the layer regions, and that sets a plurality of number of times of irradiations with respect to at least one said irradiation position in the layer region to create a treatment plan information with respect to the affected part; and

a display unit for displaying the treatment planning information.

2. The treatment planning unit according to claim 1, wherein the computing means sets the number of times of irradiations with respect to one said irradiation position so that the irradiation dose at said irradiation position for each irradiation is no more than the reference irradiation dose.