Charged particle cancer therapy beam state determination system and method of use thereof
US10792517B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 27, 2017 |
| Grant date | Oct 6, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 27, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61N2005/1097
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention comprises a method and apparatus for determining state of a positively charged particle, such as a proton, for use in imaging a tumor of a patient prior to and/or concurrent with cancer therapy. The imaging system comprises: (1) a beam transport path of the positively charged particle sequentially passing through a patient, through a first time of flight detector, and, after traversing a pathlength, at least into a second time of flight detector and (2) a beam state determination system using elapsed time between detection at the first and second time of flight detectors and the pathlength to determine a residual beam energy, which, when compared to a known incident beam energy, is used in generation of an image of the tumor. An optional beam energy degrading element increases time differences between the time of flight detectors.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.