Method and apparatus coordinating synchrotron acceleration periods with patient respiration periods

摘要

The invention relates generally to treatment of solid cancers. More particularly, the invention relates to enhancing synchrotron acceleration cycle usage efficiency by adjusting the synchrotron's acceleration cycle to correlate with a patient's respiration rate where efficiency refers to the duty cycle or the percentage of acceleration cycles used to deliver charged particles to the tumor. The system senses patient respiration and controls timing of negative ion beam formation, injection of charged particles into a synchrotron, acceleration of the charged particles, and extraction to yield delivery of the particles to the tumor at a predetermine period of the patient's respiration cycle. Independent control of charged particle energy and intensity is maintained during the timed irradiation therapy. Multi-field irradiation ensures efficient delivery of Bragg peak energy to the tumor while spreading ingress energy about the tumor.