Linac booster for high energy proton therapy and imaging

Abstract

For an optimal exploitation of the benefits of proton therapy the most accurate dose delivery system should be used. The TERA Foundation has extensive experience in the field of high gradient high frequency linacs. This paper describes a particular design of a 3 GHz linac boosting the typical cyclotron beams for proton therapy of 230-250 MeV up to 350 MeV. Such an upgrade of a typical proton therapy facility enables performing proton radiography, as well as extending therapeutic capabilities with high energy proton therapy (HEPT). The recent studies and measurements in high-gradient linac technology demonstrated that average fields in the accelerating structures of up to 25-30 MV=m can be achieved, which results in a total linac length of less than 7 m. To test several characteristics of such a linac as a booster of a cyclotron beam, a design has been made of a linac unit accelerating from 250 MeV to 275 MeV, which could be built and inserted for tests in an existing beam line at the PSI proton therapy facility. The feasibility considerations, along with the design of the linac booster and the issues related to a possible integration in an existing cyclotron beam line are detailed in this study.

Technological Developments and Future Perspectives in Particle Therapy: A Topical Review

“…Alternative solutions to cyclotrons and synchrotrons have been investigated, all pointing at lower cost and more compact designs. Linac-based designs are being investigated since more than a decade [42]. A compact and modular design has been developed by AVO-ADAM (Advanced Oncotherapy -Application of Detectors and Accelerators to Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland), that is currently being installed and commissioned.…”

Ultra‐high dose rate radiation production and delivery systems intended for FLASH

“…A LInac BOoster (LIBO) CCL structure has already been designed and tested 68,69 . LIBOs have also been considered to boost the energy of a cyclotron‐based proton therapy system for proton imaging 70,71 …”

Combining FLASH and spatially fractionated radiation therapy: The best of both worlds

“…While the maximum beam energies at SNAKE (currently 20 MeV, 70 MeV with a proposed update (101)) are sufficient for preclinical applications, magnetically focused minibeams with clinical energies may be achieved with a recently proposed nozzle concept design (96). A design study evaluating this nozzle in combination with the proton linac LIGHT (102) found that proton minibeams with widths between 0.6 and 0.9 mm FWHM and energies up to 200 MeV could be delivered at Bragg peak dose rates of ∼ 50-1500 Gy/s (97). This could enable the study of proton FLASH-MBRT but also FLASH-GRID-RT in both experimental and, more importantly, clinical contexts.…”