Control system for a particle accelerator

US9192042B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Kenneth P. Gall · Harvard, US
• Stanley J. Rosenthal · Wayland, US
• Thomas C. Sobczynski · Arlington, US
• Adam C. Molzahn · Leominster, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 27, 2013
• Grant date: Nov 17, 2015
• Expiry date: Mar 7, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC —): General

Abstract

An example particle therapy system includes a particle accelerator to output a particle beam, where the particle accelerator includes: a particle source to provide pulses of ionized plasma to a cavity, where each pulse of the particle source has a pulse width corresponding to a duration of operation of the particle source to produce the corresponding pulse, and where the particle beam is based on the pulses of ionized plasma; and a modulator wheel having different thicknesses, where each thickness extends across a different circumferential length of the modulator wheel, and where the modulator wheel is arranged to receive a precursor to the particle beam and is configured to create a spread-out Bragg peak for the particle beam.