Method for selecting minimum width of leaf in multileaf adjustable collimator while inhibiting passage of particle beams of radiation through sawtooth joints between collimator leaves
US5438454A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 1, 1993 |
| Grant date | Aug 1, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 1, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG21K1/046
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method is disclosed for selecting the minimum width of individual leaves of a multileaf adjustable collimator having sawtooth top and bottom surfaces between adjacent leaves of a first stack of leaves and sawtooth end edges which are capable of intermeshing with the corresponding sawtooth end edges of leaves in a second stack of leaves of the collimator. The minimum width of individual leaves in the collimator, each having a sawtooth configuration in the surface facing another leaf in the same stack and a sawtooth end edge, is selected to comprise the sum of the penetration depth or range of the particular type of radiation comprising the beam in the particular material used for forming the leaf; plus the total path length across all the air gaps in the area of the joint at the edges between two leaves defined between lines drawn across the peaks of adjacent sawtooth edges; plus at least one half of the length or period of a single sawtooth. To accomplish this, in accordance with the method of the invention, the penetration depth of the particular type of radiation in the particular material to be used for the collimator leaf is first measured. Then the distance or gap between ad…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.