JPH0626604B2 - Beam distribution device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a beam distributor for distributing charged particles accelerated by an accelerator to a plurality of treatment rooms.

[Technical background of the invention]

In recent years, in the medical field, charged particles (helium He, carbon C, neon Ne, silicon Si, argon) accelerated by an accelerator
Irradiation of so-called beams such as Ar ions) to, for example, a cancer-affected area and its use for medical treatment are being studied. As a device used for this purpose, a beam distributor which distributes charged particles into several particles by a deflecting electromagnet has been adopted.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of a conventional beam distributor, in which charged particles accelerated by a linear accelerator (linac) 1 are further accelerated by a synchrotron 2 to a predetermined energy, for example, three sets of polarization electromagnets 3, It is divided into three treatment rooms 1, 2 and 3 by 4, 5 and irradiated to the cancer affected area for use in treatment.

In such a structure, since charged particles from the synchrotron 2 are emitted almost continuously, if as many treatment rooms as possible are provided and the charged particles are time-sealed to irradiate a large number of patients at the same time, The beam distribution device can be effectively used. However, in general, if several hundred MeV of ions are erroneously irradiated to normal (cell) tissues other than the cancer affected area,
The normal tissues will be destroyed, jeopardizing the safety of the human body.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a beam distributor which is highly safe for a patient and economically advantageous.

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention is configured as follows to achieve the above object. That is, the first aspect of the invention is one in which a plurality of deflection electromagnets for distributing charged particles accelerated by an accelerator to a plurality of treatment rooms are electrically connected to a common excitation power source through a switch. A second invention is to electrically connect a plurality of bending electromagnets, which distribute charged particles accelerated by an accelerator, to a plurality of treatment rooms to a common excitation power source via a switching device,
The switching operation of the switching device and the treatment room patient setting completion signal are interlocked.

Example of Invention

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The charged particles accelerated by the linear accelerator 1 are further accelerated by the synchrotron 2 to a predetermined energy and can be distributed to the treatment rooms 1, 2, ... N by the deflection electromagnets 3, 4 ,. The deflecting electromagnets 3, 4, ... I are electrically connected to a common excitation power source 7 via a switch.
Furthermore, among the charged particles that are not used for treatment,
The beam tamper 8 is used for attenuation.

With this configuration, the charged particles distributed by one of the deflection electromagnets 3 to i connected to the contact of the switch 6 are applied to only one of the treatment rooms 1 to n. Therefore, the safety for the patient is improved. That is, in the above-described conventional apparatus, since charged particles are simultaneously irradiated to all the treatment rooms 1 to n, there is a possibility that the patient is erroneously irradiated when the patient is not set on the treatment table or is being set. In the device of the present invention, since charged particles are irradiated only to a specific treatment room, there is no risk for patients in treatment rooms other than the specific treatment room, and patients in the specific treatment room are also set on the treatment table. Since it is possible to irradiate charged particles with, safety is increased. Further, since the excitation power supply 7 of the deflection electromagnets 1 to i is common, the deflection electromagnet 1 is
It is economically advantageous as compared with the case where an exciting power source is provided for each i.

Next, by adding the following constitution to the above-mentioned embodiment, the safety for the patient is further increased. That is, each treatment room 1-n is provided with a device for notifying the switching device 6 of the patient setting completion state, and only when the patient setting completion signal is generated from this device, the corresponding deflection electromagnets 1-i are generated.
The switching operation of the switching device 6 is configured so that the excitation power supply 7 is connected to either of the above.

By doing this, charged particles are not irradiated to the patient who is not set on the treatment table,
It is safer than the above embodiment. Further, when there is no patient setting completion signal from any of the treatment rooms 1 to i, the erroneous irradiation of charged particles can be completely eliminated by opening the switching device 6.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention described above, it is possible to provide a beam distributor which is highly safe for a patient and is economically advantageous.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a beam distributor according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a conventional beam distributor. 1 ... Accelerator, 2 ... Synchrotron, 3, 4, ... i ...
… Biasing stone magnet, 6 …… switch, 7 …… excitation power supply.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of deflecting electromagnets for distributing charged particles accelerated by an accelerator to a plurality of treatment rooms are electrically connected to a common excitation power source through a switching device to perform switching operation of the switching device. A beam distribution device in which only the corresponding treatment room is irradiated with the charged particles. 2. A plurality of deflection electromagnets for distributing charged particles accelerated by an accelerator to a plurality of treatment rooms are electrically connected to a common excitation power source via a switch, and the switching operation of the switch is performed. A beam distribution device configured to interlock with a treatment room patient set completion signal so that the charged particles are irradiated only to the treatment room corresponding to the switching operation of the switching device.