Ion Beam Applications S.a.

Alexandre Debatty

Yves Claereboudt

Damien Prieels

Sébastien De Neuter

Frédéric Dessy

Jean-Claude Amélia

David Wikler

Paul-François Doubliez

Nicolas Gérard

A radiotherapy apparatus for the delivery of an energetic beam to a target tissue in a treatment zone, including: a rotatable gantry for rotating the end of a beam delivery system about a circle centered on an isocentre and normal to an axis of rotation Z1 of the gantry, the path between the end of the beam delivery system and the isocentre defining a central beam axis Z2 at every rotation angle of the gantry about the axis of rotation Z1; an imaging ring having a central bore and an imaging system for acquiring images of a patient in an imaging zone of the imaging system, wherein the imaging ring is located in the radiotherapy apparatus such that its imaging zone intersects the axis of rotation Z1 of the gantry, and wherein the imaging ring is mechanically coupled to the rotatable gantry through a mechanical structure.

Radiotherapy apparatus comprising an imaging ring

The invention relates to a hadron therapy installation that comprises an irradiation unit () supported by a rotary support structure, so as to be able to rotate around a target volume () centered on the axis of rotation (), to deliver a treatment beam () from different angles on the target volume (). An imaging device () is secured in rotation with the irradiation unit () and translatable relative to the irradiation unit () between a retracted position at the irradiation unit () and a lateral deployed position relative to the target volume (), such that in its deployed position, the imaging device () can rotate around the target volume () together with the irradiation unit (). Such an installation can be used for a cone beam computed tomography method and/or a fluoroscopic imaging method on a patient to be treated in the hadron therapy installation.

Hadron therapy installation comprising an imaging device

The invention is related to a method and apparatus for verifying the beam range in a target irradiated with a charged hadron beam, such as a proton beam. The beam range is the location of the Bragg peak in the target, being the location where the largest portion of the dose is delivered. The method utilizes a prompt gamma camera provided with a slit-shaped opening, so as to be able to produced a 1-dimensional profile of the dose distribution along the beam line. The camera is mounted with the slit oriented perpendicularly to the beam line. The method comprises the steps of calculating a position of the camera with respect to a target, for a plurality of beam energies and spots to be irradiated. The method further comprises the steps of verifying the beam range for said plurality of spots, and delivering a value representative of the difference between the estimated beam range and the actual beam range. The apparatus of the invention is provided with a positioning module for positioning the camera.

Method and apparatus for particle beam range verification

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Hevillers, Belgium

Alexandre Debatty