Ion radiation therapy system with variable beam resolution
First Claim
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1. An ion therapy machine comprising:
- an ion source for producing an ion beam traveling along an axis;
means for varying a lateral width of the ion beam perpendicular to the axis as a function of a control signal;
means for varying an axial extent of the beams when steered to portions of the patient according to a control signal;
means for steering a center of the ion beam to different portions of a patient according in both lateral and axial dimensions to a control signal; and
a beam controller executing a stored radiation plan to communicate control signals to the means for varying a lateral width, the means for varying an axial extent and the means for steering the ion beam, to provide a radiation treatment to the patient by applying ion beams of different widths to different portions of the patient.
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Abstract
An ion radiation therapy machine provides a steerable beam for treating a tumor within the patient where the exposure spot of the beam is controlled in width and/or length to effect a flexible trade-off between treatment speed, accuracy, and uniformity.
70 Citations
8 Claims
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1. An ion therapy machine comprising:
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an ion source for producing an ion beam traveling along an axis; means for varying a lateral width of the ion beam perpendicular to the axis as a function of a control signal; means for varying an axial extent of the beams when steered to portions of the patient according to a control signal; means for steering a center of the ion beam to different portions of a patient according in both lateral and axial dimensions to a control signal; and a beam controller executing a stored radiation plan to communicate control signals to the means for varying a lateral width, the means for varying an axial extent and the means for steering the ion beam, to provide a radiation treatment to the patient by applying ion beams of different widths to different portions of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of radiation treatment with an ion beam traveling along an axis comprising the steps of:
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executing a stored radiation treatment plan to; (a) vary a lateral width of the ion beam perpendicular to the axis according to beam width data in the radiation treatment plan; (b) vary an axial extent of the ion beam along the axis according to beam extent data in the radiation treatment plan; (c) steer the axis of the ion beam to different portions of a patient according to beam location data in the radiation treatment plan; whereby ion beams of different widths and extents are applied to at least two different portions of the patient.
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Specification