Beam allocation apparatus and beam allocation method for medical particle accelerators

• US 7,351,988 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2005
• Issued: 04/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gessellschaft Fur Schwerionenforschung MbH
• Original Assignee: Gessellschaft Fur Schwerionenforschung MbH
• Inventors: Naumann, Jakob, Poppensieker, Klaus
• Primary Examiner(s): Berman; Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sahu; Meenakshi S
• Application Number:
  US11/131,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20060113487A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,049 Days
• Field of Search: 250/492.3, 250/492.2, 250/492.1, 250/394, 250/398, 328/233, 328/234, 328/235, 364/413.14, 364/413.15
• US Class Current: 250/492.3
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1074 Details of the control system, e.g. user interfaces
• 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 5/1079 Sharing a beam by multiple treatment stations

Abstract

The invention relates to a beam allocation apparatus (21) for medical particle accelerators and also to a beam allocation method. This beam allocation apparatus (21) should manage a plurality of control rooms (8-12) for different treatment rooms and for quality assurance rooms and control rooms for the particle accelerator (1) and co-ordinate the assignment of beam sovereignty. For the purpose, the beam allocation apparatus (21) has an arbitration unit (26) having switching logic (27) and monitoring unit (28) and also a sequence control (29). The latter are provided, by way of signal lines (30), with a spill abort system (31) for aborting ion beam irradiation within micro-seconds. For the purpose, the spill abort system (31) has at least one spill abort magnet (32). For the purpose, the beam allocation apparatus (21) provides direct access from one of the control room (8-12) of the irradiation-active treatment room for aborting the particle beam within micro-seconds.

Claims

1. Beam allocation apparatus for medical particle accelerators, the particle accelerator having at least one acceleration region, a transport path and deflection components, by way of which a plurality of treatment rooms, each having a control room, are supplied with a particle beam comprising ion packets,

wherein the beam allocation apparatus has an arbitration unit having switching logic, monitoring unit and sequence control, which is in electrical communication, by way of signal lines, with a spill abort system which has at least two rapid spill abort elements in the acceleration region and/or in the beam guidance common to all the irradiation positions, the beam allocation apparatus providing direct access from the control room of the irradiation-active treatment room for aborting the particle beam within micro-seconds in the event of danger.

2. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spill abort system has a spill abort magnet.

3. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam allocation apparatus has access to an exciter.

4. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each control room of a treatment room and/or of a quality assurance room, and also of the particle accelerator, has a request signal line to the switching logic of the arbitration unit for requesting transfer of beam sovereignty to the control room together with access entitlement to the exciter and/or the spill abort magnet of the acceleration region.

5. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each control room of a treatment room and/or of a quality assurance room, and also of the particle accelerator, has a grant signal line to the switching logic of the arbitration unit for confirming transfer of access entitlement to the exciter and/or the spill abort magnet of the acceleration region for the control room during a phase of active irradiation.

6. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each control room of a treatment room andlor of a quality assurance room has a clear signal line to the switching logic of the arbitration unit for confirming a completed irradiation abort and for deleting an access reservation to the exciter and/or the spill abort magnet of the acceleration region for the control room.

7. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each control room of a treatment room and/or of a quality assurance room has an interlock line to the switching logic of the arbitration unit for aborting irradiation by means of direct access from the control room to the exciter and/or the spill abort magnet of the acceleration region.

8. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each control room of a treatment room and/or of a quality assurance room has a spill pause line to the switching logic of the arbitration unit for aborting irradiation by means of direct access from the control room to the exciter and/or the spill abort magnet whilst maintaining an access reservation.

9. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching logic of the arbitration unit has in each case a request signal line, a grant signal line, a spill pause line, an interlock line and a clear signal line, of which the switching logic is in electrical communication with the components of the spill abort system.

10. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit of the arbitration unit receives signals, by way of input signal connections, from the switching logic and the sequence control and is connected, by way of output signal connections, to the spill abort system of the acceleration region.

11. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a scheduler is connected to the switching logic of the arbitration unit and, by means of the sequence control of the arbitration unit, controls the working through of a queue of irradiation requests from the control rooms, which is produced in the scheduler.

12. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exciter is a high-frequency resonance component for ion packets in the coupling-in region of the accelerator and initiates a beam abort in microseconds as a result of variation or mismatching of the resonance tuning.

13. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spill abort magnet is a beam guidance magnet in the coupling-out region of the acceleration region.

14. Beam allocation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beam allocation apparatus has a control and management means for allocation of a particle beam of an irradiation system having an ion writing beam of an ion beam scanning apparatus for a target volume.

15. Beam allocation apparatus for medical particle accelerators, the particle accelerator having at least one acceleration region , a transport path and deflection components, by way of which a plurality of treatment rooms, each having a control room, are supplied with a particle beam comprising ion packets, wherein the beam allocation apparatus has an arbitration unit having switching logic, monitoring unit and sequence control, which is in electrical communication, by way of signal lines, with a spill abort system which has at least two rapid spill abort elements in the acceleration region and/or in the beam guidance common to all the irradiation positions, the control rooms being serially connected to the spill abort system by means of a potential-free interlock line, and the beam allocation apparatus providing direct access to the irradiation-active treatment room for aborting the particle beam within micro-seconds in the event of danger.

16. Beam allocation method for medical particle accelerators, the particle accelerator having at least one acceleration region, a transport path and deflection components, by way of which a plurality of treatment rooms, each having a control room, are sequentially supplied with a particle beam comprising ion packets, the beam allocation method comprising the following method steps:

requesting reservation, by one of the control rooms, of particle beam sovereignty, especially reservation of direct access to a spill abort system of the acceleration region required by all the treatment rooms, for a planned irradiation duration;

carrying out safety-relevant reservation of the spill abort system by an electronic switching logic of an arbitration unit;

reporting of the completed reservation to each control room with permission for only control room to carry out beam aborting by means of the spill abort system;

holding in a state of readiness, for the control rooms, a direct redundant signal path, which is independent of the arbitration unit,leading to the spill abort system of the acceleration system, the switching elements of the control rooms being connected in series,

it being possible, in the event of simultaneous beam reservation requests from a plurality of control rooms, for the arbitration unit to decide which control room of an irradiation position can make the reservation and,

it being possible, despite the loss of a reservation, for a spill abort to be initiated from each control room by way of the redundant signal path.

17. Beam allocation method according to claim 16, wherein beam sovereignty is transferred from an active control room to another control room only when the current control room actively relinquishes control over the particle beam.

18. Beam allocation method according to claim 16, wherein the spill abort system of the accelerator ring is activated for switching off the beam for a short period.

19. Beam allocation method according to claim 16, wherein a control room for the particle accelerator makes a reservation for the spill abort system once it has been ensured that either no beam is reaching the irradiation rooms or that no patient is present therein.

20. Beam allocation method according to claim 16, wherein the status of all reservations, access entitlements and acknowledgements are checked by a monitoring unit of the arbitration unit and, in the event of inconsistency, switching-off is carried out by way of the redundant signal path.

21. Beam allocation method according to claim 16, wherein, by means of a non-safety-relevant microprocessor system in the form of a scheduler, a sequence of reservation allocation of the spill abort system is reported to the arbitration unit and, when the microprocessor system is absent or when allocations are absent, the arbitration unit gives the control rooms, in turn, the opportunity to make a reservation.