JP2014171560A - Particle beam therapy facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to efficiently operate a particle beam therapy system while performing highly accurate particle beam therapy based on a therapeutic plan.SOLUTION: A particle beam therapy facility comprises: three or more irradiation chambers 4 enclosed by shielding walls 4w to allow for irradiation with particle beams; a preparation room 5 provided apart from the three or more irradiation chambers 4 to allow a patient K to be positioned; and a patient transportation device 7 for transporting the patient K positioned in the preparation room 5 to any of the three or more irradiation chambers 4 (4A, 4B, 4C, ...). The three or more irradiation chambers 4 are disposed so as to surround the preparation room 5 with an entrance 4e of each irradiation chamber facing the preparation room 5, while the preparation room 5 is provided with entrances (5eA, 5eB, 5eC, ...), each corresponding to each (4eA, 4eB, 4eC, ...) of the entrances 4e of the three or more irradiation chambers 4, respectively.

Description

  The present invention relates to a particle beam treatment facility used for cancer treatment or the like, and particularly to a particle beam treatment facility for positioning a patient in a preparation room separated from an irradiation room.

  In the particle beam therapy, treatment is performed by irradiating an affected area to be treated with a beam of charged particles (particle beam) and damaging the affected tissue. At that time, in order to give a sufficient dose to the affected tissue without damaging the surrounding tissue, it is required to control the irradiation dose and the irradiation range (irradiation field) with high accuracy. On the other hand, the patient to be irradiated is also required to be positioned so as not to deviate from the assumed body position and position, and positioning is performed while checking the state in several stages.

  Therefore, the time required for positioning exceeds the time required for actual irradiation, and the time for one patient to occupy the irradiation room becomes too long, making it difficult to operate the particle beam therapy system efficiently. was there. Therefore, a method has been proposed in which a preparation room is provided separately from the irradiation room where the irradiation is actually performed, and after positioning in the preparation room, a bed on which the positioned patient is placed is transferred to the irradiation room for treatment (for example, Patent Document 1 or 2).

JP 2000-288102 A (paragraphs 0019 to 0023, FIGS. 1 and 2) JP 2012-148026 A (paragraphs 0011 to 0034, FIGS. 1 to 4)

  On the other hand, in the irradiation chamber, in order to prevent leakage of particle beams to the outside, it is necessary to install a thick shielding wall around it. Therefore, from the viewpoint of space efficiency and material efficiency, adjacent irradiation chambers share the shielding wall. As described above, the plurality of irradiation chambers are arranged linearly. Therefore, if one preparation room corresponds to three or more irradiation chambers, the transfer path from the preparation chamber differs depending on the irradiation chamber, and the deviation of the patient during transfer may be different among the irradiation chambers. Will occur. On the other hand, even if a deviation occurs, if the deviation is reproducible, it is possible to perform irradiation with high accuracy based on the treatment plan by performing correction or the like in consideration of the deviation. If the same irradiation room is assigned to the same patient every time in order to enable such correction, the operation of the irradiation room is restricted, making it difficult to operate the particle beam therapy system efficiently. Become.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform a particle beam therapy system with high accuracy based on a treatment plan while being able to efficiently operate a particle beam therapy system.

  The particle beam treatment facility according to the present invention includes three or more irradiation chambers surrounded by a shield for performing irradiation of the particle beam, and positioning of a patient provided separately from the three or more irradiation chambers. And a patient transport device for transporting a patient positioned in the preparation chamber to any of the three or more irradiation chambers, each of the three or more irradiation chambers including the preparation It is arranged so that the entrance / exit is opposed to the chamber so as to surround the preparation chamber, and the preparation chamber is provided with an entrance / exit corresponding to each of the entrances / exits of the three or more irradiation chambers. .

  According to the particle beam treatment facility of the present invention, since the route from the preparation room to each of the three or more irradiation chambers is the same, there is no restriction on the allocation of the irradiation chamber, and the particle beam therapy system can be operated efficiently. The purpose is to perform highly accurate particle beam therapy based on a treatment plan.

It is a plane schematic diagram for demonstrating the structure of the particle beam therapy equipment concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the structure of the irradiation chamber periphery part of the particle beam therapy equipment concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention, and an accelerator.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the particle beam therapy facility according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are for explaining the particle beam treatment facility according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining the configuration of the particle beam treatment facility and the particle beam in the particle beam treatment system. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the particle beam therapy equipment and the particle beam therapy system, and is a schematic diagram showing the movement of the patient between the irradiation chamber and the carrier table and the accelerator. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of is combined.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the feature of the particle beam treatment facility according to the first embodiment of the present invention is that three or more irradiation chambers 4A, 4B, which are surrounded by a shielding wall 4w to irradiate the particle beam, 4C,... (Collectively irradiation chamber 4) is surrounded by the preparation chamber 5 provided for patient positioning with the entrances 4eA, 4eB, 4eC,... (Collectively entrance / exit 4e) facing each other. This means that the preparation chamber 5 is also provided with opposing entrances 5eA, 5eB, 5eC,... (Collectively entrance / exit 5e) corresponding to each irradiation chamber 4. Here, the particle beam therapy system including the accelerator will be described before the description of the particle beam therapy facility.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the particle beam therapy system includes a circular accelerator 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as an accelerator) that is a synchrotron as a particle beam supply source, and irradiation devices 3A and 3B provided for each irradiation chamber 4. ... (collectively irradiation device 3), accelerator 1 and irradiation device 3 are connected, and transport system 2 for transporting particle beams from accelerator 1 to irradiation device 3 in each irradiation chamber 4 and these systems are controlled. And a control system (not shown). In the drawing, for simplification, only a part of a plurality of irradiation chambers and irradiation apparatuses is shown.

  The accelerator 1 includes a vacuum duct 11 serving as an orbital path for circulating charged particles, an incident device 12 for allowing charged particles supplied from the front accelerator 20 to enter the vacuum duct 11, and the charged particles circulating in the vacuum duct 11. Deflection electromagnets 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d (collectively deflection electromagnets 13) for deflecting the trajectory of the charged particles so as to circulate along the trajectory, and a converging electromagnet 14a for converging the charged particles on the circular trajectory so as not to diverge. , 14b, 14c, 14d (collectively converging electromagnet 14), a high-frequency accelerating cavity 15 that accelerates by applying a high-frequency voltage synchronized with the circulating charged particles, and a particle beam having a predetermined energy that is accelerated in the accelerator 1 As an extraction device 16 for taking out from the accelerator 1 and emitting it to the transport system 2, And a sextupole electromagnet 17 to excite resonance in the orbit. Further, for example, the deflection electromagnet 13 is a direct current power source for controlling the excitation current, and the high frequency acceleration cavity 15 is a high frequency source for supplying a high frequency voltage. A device is not provided.

  In addition, the front accelerator 20 is illustrated as a single device in the figure for the sake of simplicity, but in reality, an ion source (ion) that generates charged particles (ions) such as protons and carbon (heavy particles) ( Ion beam generator) and a linear accelerator system for initial acceleration of the generated charged particles. The charged particles incident on the accelerator 1 from the pre-stage accelerator 20 are accelerated by a high frequency electric field and accelerated to about 70 to 80% of the speed of light while being bent by a magnet.

  The particle beam accelerated and emitted by the accelerator 1 is emitted to a transport system 2 called a HEBT (High Energy Beam Transport) system. The transport system 2 includes a vacuum duct serving as a particle beam transport path, a switching electromagnet that is a switching device that switches the beam trajectory of the particle beam, and a deflection electromagnet that deflects the particle beam to a predetermined angle. Thereby, the particle beam emitted from one accelerator 1 can be supplied to the irradiation device 3 in an arbitrary irradiation chamber 4 by switching the trajectory as necessary with a switching electromagnet.

  The irradiation device 3 forms the particle beam supplied from the transport system 2 into an irradiation field corresponding to the size and depth of the irradiation target and irradiates the affected area. The irradiation device 3 includes a scanning electromagnet that deflects the particle beam supplied from the accelerator 1 in an arbitrary direction within a plane substantially perpendicular to the beam axis, and the width of the Bragg peak according to the thickness of the irradiation target. A ridge filter for expanding the range, a range shifter for changing the energy (range) of the particle beam according to the depth of the irradiation target (irradiation depth), and in some cases, a limiter such as a multi-leaf collimator is provided. Irradiation is performed by forming an irradiation field corresponding to the affected area with reference to isocenters CA, CB,... (Collectively isocenter C) set for each irradiation chamber 4.

  Positioning of a patient on a treatment table in such a particle beam therapy system requires high accuracy in mm units, for example, a rough setting using a laser pointer and a precise setting using an X-ray image. It is carried out closely by stepping on. For this reason, as described in the background art, when positioning is performed in the irradiation chamber 4, the occupation time of the irradiation chamber per patient becomes longer depending on the time required for positioning, and the particle beam therapy system can be operated efficiently. It could be difficult. Therefore, also in the patient positioning system for particle beam therapy according to the first embodiment, a preparation chamber 5 for positioning is provided separately from the irradiation chamber 4, as shown in FIG.

  As shown in Patent Document 2, in the irradiation chamber 4 and the preparation chamber 5, the top plate 7t on which the patient K is placed can be fixed on the basis of the isocenter C and the temporary isocenter Cv, respectively. A plate installation section 7i (in the drawing, the irradiation chamber 4A has 7iA and 4B has 7iB) and 7p are installed. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the top plate 7t is freely transferred to the top plate installation sections 7i and 7p and the top plate 7t while the posture of the top plate 7t is maintained. Therefore, a top plate moving device (not shown) is provided. The top plate moving device is composed of, for example, a rail, a bearing, a driving device, and the like, and the top plate 7t is not tilted, and the top plate setting unit 7i and the transfer table 7m or between the top plate setting unit 7p and the transfer table 7m It can move smoothly. Thereby, the top plate 7t can be freely placed between the top plate setting portion 7i and the transport table 7m or between the top plate setting portion 7p and the transfer table 7m without breaking the posture of the patient K positioned and fixed on the top plate 7t. Can be replaced.

  In this way, positioning is fixed in the preparation chamber 5 by using the patient transport device 7 provided with the top plate installation portions 7i and 7p provided in the irradiation chamber 4 and the preparation chamber 5, the transport table 7m, and the top plate 7t. The patient can be transported into the irradiation chamber 4 to perform particle beam irradiation. At this time, a laser pointer, an X-ray imaging device, and the like (not shown) are installed in the preparation chamber 5, and settings such as rough installation by the laser pointer and precise positioning with respect to the temporary isocenter Cv by the X-ray imaging device or the like are performed. be able to.

  Since the temporary isocenter Cv set in the preparation chamber 5 corresponds precisely to the isocenter C in the irradiation chamber 4, as long as the position and posture of the patient K with respect to the top 7t are maintained, Precise irradiation based on the plan becomes possible. And when one patient is treating in irradiation room 4, the next patient can perform positioning work in preparation room 5, and can raise the utilization efficiency of a particle beam therapy system.

  However, in the particle beam therapy system, the irradiation chamber needs to be provided with a thick shielding wall so as to surround the periphery in order to prevent leakage of the particle beam outside the chamber. Therefore, it is often the case that three or more irradiation chambers are arranged in a straight line by sharing a shielding wall between adjacent irradiation chambers in consideration of material efficiency and space efficiency. Therefore, if one preparation room corresponds to three or more irradiation chambers, an irradiation chamber having a transfer path connecting the irradiation chamber and the preparation chamber, such as the arrangement of the distance and the turning angle, differs from the other irradiation chambers.

  In general, as the distance of the conveyance path increases or the number or degree of change in the operation such as a corner increases, the possibility that the patient is displaced increases. Therefore, if the configuration of the transport path is different, there is a difference in the method of positional deviation during transport. In other words, if the transport path differs depending on the irradiation chamber, it is conceivable that a difference occurs in the deviation of the patient being transported by the irradiation chamber. Here, for example, if it can be predicted that the same deviation occurs every time, measures such as correcting the placement method in the irradiation chamber in consideration of the deviation can be taken, but if the deviation itself changes, Such measures cannot be taken. Therefore, if there is a difference between the irradiation chambers, in order to maintain reproducibility, if the same irradiation chamber is assigned to the same patient every time, the operation of the irradiation chamber is restricted, and the particle beam therapy system Is difficult to operate efficiently.

  Therefore, in the particle beam therapy facility according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the transport paths WpA, WpB, WpC,... From each irradiation chamber 4A, 4B, 4C,. The path Wp) was not changed by the irradiation chamber 4. Details are shown below.

  The irradiation chamber 4 is arranged on the circumference centering on the preparation chamber 5 so that the entrance / exit 4e of each irradiation chamber 4 faces the preparation chamber 5 and surrounds the preparation chamber 5, and the preparation chamber 5 also includes an irradiation chamber. In order to correspond to each of the four entrances 4e, the entrances 5e are also provided so as to form a circumference (preferably concentric with the arrangement of the irradiation chamber 4). Then, for example, the top plate installation part 7p is arranged at the center of the circumference so that the same route is provided from the top plate installation part 7p in the preparation room 5 to each of the entrances and exits 5e of the preparation room.

  Here, each irradiation chamber 4 arranged on the circumference is provided with an irradiation device 3 or the like for irradiation by the same irradiation method, and an internal passage 4a that becomes a labyrinth is also formed by a shielding wall 4w surrounding the periphery. Are formed in the same way. Therefore, the transfer path wp from the preparation chamber 5 to each irradiation chamber 4 is the same regardless of which irradiation chamber 4 is selected. That is, even if it is transported to the irradiation chamber 4, the length of the path and the number of corners are the same, so the time in the transport path wp from the preparation chamber 5 to each irradiation chamber 4, the direction change of the transport table 7m, The number of times of reversal is the same. As a result, the history of the magnitude and direction of the force applied to the patient K and the top 7t during transport does not change regardless of which irradiation chamber 4 is selected, and the reproducibility increases even if the patient K is displaced. It becomes possible to deal with it.

  As described above, according to the particle beam therapy facility according to the first embodiment, three or more irradiation chambers 4 surrounded by a shield (shielding wall 4w) in order to perform particle beam irradiation, The preparation room 5 for positioning the patient K, which is provided separately from the three or more irradiation chambers 4, and the patient K positioned in the preparation room 5 is one of the three or more irradiation chambers 4 (4 </ b> A, 4 </ b> B). 4C,...), And each of the three or more irradiation chambers 4 surrounds the preparation chamber 5 with the entrance 4e facing the preparation chamber 5 (for example, , On the circumference centered on the preparation chamber), and in the preparation chamber 5, the entrances 5eA corresponding to the respective entrances 4e of the three or more irradiation chambers (4eA, 4eB, 4eC,...) 5eB, 5eC, etc. are provided so that the preparation room Since the path Wp is similar leading to each of the three or more irradiation chambers 4 from any be assigned to irradiation chamber 4, reproducible deviation, etc., it is eliminated constraint assignment of the irradiation chamber 4. As a result, the particle beam therapy system can be operated efficiently, and highly accurate particle beam therapy based on the treatment plan can be performed.

  In particular, the path (transport path Wp) of the patient transport device 7 from the preparation room 5 to each of the three or more irradiation chambers 4 is set so that the number of corners is the same. The burden on the patient due to the above is the same, and the reproducibility is further improved.

1: accelerator, 2: transport route, 3: irradiation device, 4: irradiation chamber, 4a: irradiation chamber passage, 4d: shielding door, 4e: entrance / exit of irradiation chamber, 4w: shielding wall (shielding body), 5: preparation chamber 5e: entrance / exit of preparation room, 6: common passage, 7: turntable, 7: patient transport device, 7i: top plate installation section (in irradiation chamber), 7m: top plate transport device, 7p: (in preparation room) Top plate installation part, 7t: Top plate,
C: Isocenter, Cv: Temporary isocenter, Wp: Transport path.

Claims (2)

Three or more irradiation chambers surrounded by a shield to perform irradiation of particle beams,
A preparatory room for positioning the patient, provided separately from the three or more irradiation rooms;
A patient transfer device for transferring a patient positioned in the preparation room to any of the three or more irradiation chambers;
Each of the three or more irradiation chambers is disposed so as to surround the preparation chamber with the entrance facing the preparation chamber, and the preparation chamber is provided with each of the entrances and exits of the three or more irradiation chambers. A particle beam therapy facility characterized in that a corresponding doorway is provided.   2. The particle beam according to claim 1, wherein the path of the patient transport device from the preparation chamber to each of the three or more irradiation chambers is set to have the same number of corners. Treatment equipment.

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