Geometry optimisation of graphite energy degrader for proton therapy

Cyclotrons are the predominant accelerator source used today for proton therapy, and isochronous variants offer access to extracted protons up to around 250  MeV at extracted proton currents approaching 1 microampere, with reasonable emittance suitable for modern spot-scanning treatments. One limitation of modern cyclotron designs is that they effectively offer only a single extracted energy, and so the range of energies required for patient treatment must be obtained by degrading this maximum energy (although we note the proposed designs for variable-energy extraction using either stripping [1,2] or fixed massless septum [3]).
Source: Physica Medica: European Journal of Medical Physics - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Original paper Source Type: research