A novel intensity compensation method to achieve energy independent beam intensity at the patient location for cyclotron based proton therapy facilities

In cyclotron-based proton therapy facilities, an energy selection system is typically used to lower beam energy from the fixed value provided by the accelerator (250/230MeV) to the one needed for the treatment (230-70MeV). Such a system has drawback of introducing an energy-dependent beam current at the patient location, resulting in energy-dependent beam intensity ratios of about 10³ between high and low energies. This complicates treatment delivery and challenges patient safety systems. As such, we propose the use of a dual-energy degrader method that can reduce beam intensity for high-energy beams. The first degrader is made of high Z material and the second is made of low Z material and are placed next to each other. For high energies (230-180MeV), we use only first degrader to increase beam emittance after degrader and thus lose intensity in emittance selection collimators. For intermediate energy beams (180-100MeV) we use the combination of both degraders, whereas for low energy beams (100-70MeV), only the second degrader limits the increase in emittance. With this approach, energy-independent beam intensities can be achieved, whilst localizing beam losses around the degrader.
Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand