WO2011148513A1

WO2011148513A1 - Charged-particle irradiation system

Info

Publication number: WO2011148513A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/059157
Authority: WO
Inventors: 尚文石黒; 真澄梅澤; 聡遠竹; 知久今川; 大春千葉
Original assignee: 株式会社日立製作所
Priority date: 2010-05-28
Filing date: 2010-05-28
Publication date: 2011-12-01
Also published as: JPWO2011148513A1; JP5396538B2

Abstract

A control unit (21) excites an electromagnet group belonging to synchrotron (9), and an electromagnet group belonging to a beam transport system (4), sets the "incidence → acceleration → outgoing → deceleration" of a charged-particle beam to one operating cycle, and, after the completion of normal operation performed by repeating the number of times of the cycles required, automatically performs initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron (9), and the electromagnet group belonging to the beam transport system (4). As a result, the waiting time before the start of the normal operation can be shortened to enhance the operating rate of devices, and, in a particle beam therapy system, the time from when a patient enters a treatment room until the treatment is completed can be shortened to alleviate the burden on the patient. A system having the beam transport system that is branched into a plurality of irradiation devices is always able to perform stabilized beam irradiation by making the effect of hysteresis by the earlier normal operation constant every time.

Description

Charged particle irradiation system

The present invention relates to a charged particle irradiation system, and in particular, includes a charged particle beam generator and a beam transport system, and consists of repeating “incidence → acceleration → extraction → deceleration” of a charged particle beam as a single operation cycle. The present invention relates to a charged particle irradiation system optimum for an electromagnet initialization operation in a case where normal operation is continuously performed.

A treatment method is known in which a charged particle beam such as a proton is irradiated to an affected area of a patient such as cancer. A large-scale treatment system used for this treatment has conventionally been provided with a charged particle beam generator, a beam transport system, and a plurality of irradiation devices installed in a plurality of treatment rooms. The charged particle beam accelerated by the charged particle beam generator reaches the irradiation device in each treatment room through the beam transport system, and is irradiated to the affected area of the patient from the nozzle of the irradiation device. At this time, the beam transport system includes one common beam transport system and a plurality of branched beam transport systems that branch from the common beam transport system and reach the irradiation apparatus in each treatment room. Each branch beam transport system is provided with a switching electromagnet for deflecting the charged particle beam from the common beam transport system and introducing it into the branch beam transport system. An electromagnet group (electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system) such as a deflection electromagnet and a quadrupole electromagnet for guiding the charged particle beam introduced by the electromagnet to the irradiation device is provided. The switching electromagnet and the electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system share the power source with the switching electromagnet corresponding to another treatment room and the electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system (Patent Document 1). Therefore, when beam irradiation is performed with another irradiation device after irradiation with a certain irradiation device, the switching electromagnet is controlled to be switched and the load switching device is connected to connect the power supply group to the electromagnet group belonging to the branch beam transport system. Switching processing is performed (Patent Documents 1 and 2). Before starting normal operation, in order to prevent the residual magnetic field of the electromagnets belonging to the charged particle beam generator and the beam transport system from affecting normal operation, the initial and maximum excitations of the electromagnet used are repeated several times. Operation is performed, and the influence of hysteresis is made constant each time (Patent Documents 2 and 3).

Japanese National Patent Publication No. 11-501232 JP 2006-228579 A JP-A-8-298200

As described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, in a conventional charged particle irradiation system such as the above particle beam therapy system, an initialization operation is performed after completion of treatment room preparation, and then a normal operation is performed. Therefore, before normal operation starts, a waiting time is generated by adding the initialization operation time to the treatment room preparation time.

Further, as described in

Patent Documents

1 and 2, a switching electromagnet in a charged particle irradiation system having a beam transport system that branches into a plurality of irradiation apparatuses such as the particle beam therapy system performs switching between excitation and non-excitation. In this way, the beam is guided to the irradiation apparatus, but the initialization operation is performed only on the switching electromagnet that is excited. In other words, when normal operation is performed with a downstream irradiation device after completion of normal operation with an irradiation device located upstream of the beam transport system, there is no upstream switching electromagnet before normal operation with the downstream irradiation device is started. The initialization operation is not performed only by being in the excited state, and the initialization operation is performed after only the downstream switching electromagnet is excited. At this time, the residual magnetic field of the upstream switching electromagnet is affected by the hysteresis after completion of the upstream normal operation. Therefore, the influence of the normal operation on the downstream side from the residual magnetic field of the upstream switching electromagnet is different each time.

The first object of the present invention is to increase the operating rate of the apparatus by shortening the waiting time before the start of normal operation. In the particle beam therapy system, the treatment is completed after the patient enters the treatment room. To provide a charged particle irradiation system capable of reducing time and reducing a burden on a patient.

A second object of the present invention is a charged particle irradiation system having a beam transport system that branches into a plurality of irradiation devices, in which the influence of hysteresis due to the previous normal operation is made constant every time, so that stable beam irradiation can be performed constantly. Is to provide a system.

The present invention that realizes the first object includes a charged particle beam generating apparatus that emits a charged particle beam, an irradiation apparatus that irradiates the charged particle beam, and an emitted apparatus that emits the charged particle beam from the charged particle beam generator to the irradiation apparatus. In the charged particle irradiation system comprising the beam transport system for transporting the charged particle beam, the electromagnet group belonging to the charged particle beam generator and the electromagnet group belonging to the beam transport system are excited, It is provided with a control device that automatically performs initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation after the normal operation is completed by repeating this process as many times as necessary with “acceleration → extraction → deceleration” as one operation cycle. is there.

The present invention for realizing the first and second objects includes a charged particle beam generator for emitting a charged particle beam, a plurality of irradiation devices respectively installed at a plurality of locations, and the charged particle beam generator. A beam transport system for transporting the charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam generator to each of the irradiation devices, and the beam transport system is connected to the charged particle beam generator In a charged particle irradiation system having a first beam transport system and a plurality of second beam transport systems branched from the first beam transport system and connected to the respective irradiation devices, an electromagnet belonging to the charged particle beam generator A group of electromagnets from an upstream side of the first beam transport system to a switching electromagnet corresponding to an irradiation device used for treatment among the plurality of irradiation devices; and After exciting the electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to the irradiation device and repeating the necessary number of times as “injection → acceleration → extraction → deceleration” of the charged particle beam as one operation cycle, A control device for automatically performing an initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation is provided.

Furthermore, the present invention for realizing the first and second objects includes a charged particle beam generator for emitting a charged particle beam, a plurality of irradiation devices respectively installed at a plurality of locations, and the charged particle beam generator. A beam transport system for transporting the charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam generator to each of the irradiation devices, and the beam transport system is connected to the charged particle beam generator A first beam transport system; and a plurality of second beam transport systems branched from the first beam transport system and connected to the plurality of irradiation devices, respectively, and the charged particle beam generator includes a first electromagnet group The first beam transport system includes a second electromagnet group, the plurality of second beam transport systems includes a third electromagnet group, and the third electromagnet group extends from the first beam transport system. Duplicate In a charged particle irradiation system including a switching electromagnet group arranged at each branch position of the second beam transport system, a first electromagnet power supply device for exciting the first electromagnet group and the second electromagnet group, and the third A second electromagnet power supply for exciting the electromagnet group, and a second electromagnet selected from the electromagnets of the third electromagnet group belonging to one second beam transport system selected for treatment. Of the load switching device for switching to connect to the power supply device, the first electromagnet group belonging to the charged particle beam generator, and the second electromagnet group belonging to the first beam transport system, upstream of the first beam transport system The selected electromagnet group among the electromagnet group immediately before the switching electromagnet corresponding to the selected second beam transport system from the side, and the third electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system. Initializing the magnet group excited in the normal operation after the normal operation is completed by exciting the stone group and repeating this operation as many times as necessary with “incidence → acceleration → extraction → deceleration” of the charged particle beam. A first control device that automatically performs a control operation, and a preparation completion indicating that the initialization operation by the first control device has been completed and that irradiation preparation at one of the plurality of locations has been completed When the signal is output, the load switching device is controlled, and among the electromagnets of the third electromagnet group, the selected electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to the one place is moved to the second electromagnet. And a second control device that switches to connect to the power supply device.

Here, the control device further stores a time when the initialization is completed when the electromagnet group is initialized by the initialization operation, and the electromagnet group is initialized for a predetermined time or more from this time. It is preferable that the initialization operation for reinitializing the electromagnet group is automatically performed when the operation is not performed.

Further, the control device automatically performs an initialization operation for stopping the normal operation and initializing the electromagnet group when a normal operation stop command is received during the normal operation. Is preferred.

According to the present invention, in a charged particle irradiation system having a single irradiation device or a plurality of irradiation devices, by automatically performing an initialization operation to initialize an electromagnet group excited in normal operation after completion of normal operation, The waiting time before the start of normal operation can be shortened and the operating rate of the apparatus can be increased. As a result, in the particle beam therapy system, the time from when the patient enters the treatment room until the treatment is completed can be shortened, and the burden on the patient can be reduced.

In a charged particle irradiation system having a beam transport system that branches into a plurality of rooms, stable beam irradiation can be performed by making the influence of hysteresis in the residual magnetic field of the switching electromagnet constant.

1 is a configuration diagram of a charged particle irradiation system (charged particle therapy system) in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the control part of the control apparatus of this embodiment, and the relationship of transmission / reception of the signal between a control part, an electromagnet power supply device, a charged particle beam generator, and a treatment room. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in a control part. It is a time chart which compares the flow of operation | movement of the charged particle irradiation system in the case of repeating a normal driving | operation per person 3 times for two patients, and this embodiment. It is a figure which compares and shows the excitation state of the transport system electromagnet at the time of initialization operation by the past and this Embodiment. It is a block diagram of the charged particle irradiation system (charged particle therapy system) in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship of the transmission / reception of the signal between the structure of the electromagnet control part of the control apparatus of this embodiment, an electromagnet control part, a load switching control part, an electromagnet power supply device, a load switching apparatus, a charged particle beam generator, and a treatment room. is there. It is a time chart which shows an example of the operation | movement flow of a charged particle irradiation system in the case of repeating a normal driving | operation 3 times with respect to one patient in two treatment rooms by comparison with the past and this Embodiment. It is a time chart which compares the other example of the operation | movement flow of the charged particle irradiation system in the case of repeating a normal driving | operation 3 times with respect to one patient in two treatment rooms, and this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the initialization condition of each electromagnet in the conventional initialization driving | operation. It is a figure which shows the initialization condition of each electromagnet in the initialization operation | movement of this Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a charged particle irradiation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The charged particle irradiation system of the present embodiment is, for example, a proton beam treatment system, and the proton beam treatment system includes a charged particle beam generator 1, a treatment room 2, and a charged particle beam generator as shown in FIG. A beam transport system 4 for guiding an ion beam from 1 to the treatment room 2 is provided.

The charged particle beam generator 1 includes an ion source (not shown), a pre-stage accelerator (pre-stage charged particle beam generator) 7 using a linear accelerator, and a synchrotron 9. Ions generated in the ion source (positive ions—for example, carbon ions in the case of other particle beams) are accelerated by the front stage accelerator 7. An ion beam (for example, a positive ion beam) emitted from the front stage accelerator 7 is incident on the synchrotron 9 via the deflection electromagnet 8. The ion beam, which is a charged particle beam (particle beam), is accelerated by the synchrotron 9 by being given energy by a high-frequency power applied from a high-frequency acceleration cavity (not shown). After the energy of the ion beam that circulates in the synchrotron 9 is increased to a set energy (for example, 100 to 200 MeV), a high frequency is applied to the ion beam from a high frequency application device (not shown) for extraction. The ion beam orbiting within the stability limit moves outside the stability limit by the application of this high frequency, and is emitted from the synchrotron 9 through an extraction deflector (not shown). The synchrotron 9 includes a group of electromagnets such as a quadrupole electromagnet 51 and a deflection electromagnet 52. When the ion beam is emitted, a current guided to the electromagnet such as the quadrupole electromagnet 51 and the deflection electromagnet 52 is held at a current set value, and the stability limit. Is also held almost constant. The ion beam extraction from the synchrotron 9 is stopped by stopping the application of high-frequency power to the high-frequency application device.

The ion beam emitted from the synchrotron 9 is transported from the beam transport system 4 to the treatment room 2. The beam transport system 4 includes a quadrupole electromagnet 13, a deflection electromagnet 12, a quadrupole electromagnet 14, a deflection electromagnet 6, a quadrupole electromagnet 15, a deflection electromagnet 16, a quadrupole electromagnet 17, a deflection electromagnet 18 disposed on the beam path from the upstream side in the beam traveling direction. A deflection electromagnet 19 is provided. The ion beam introduced into the beam transport system 4 is transported to the irradiation device 10 through the beam path.

The irradiation device 10 is attached to a rotating gantry (not shown) installed in each treatment room 2. The irradiation device 10 is a double scatterer type irradiation device. Alternatively, a wobbler type irradiation apparatus may be used. The treatment room 2 is a treatment room for cancer patients, for example.

Among the electromagnets in the proton beam therapy system of the present embodiment, the electromagnet group belonging to the beam transport system 4 is listed below.

<Electromagnet group belonging to beam transport system 4>
Quadrupole electromagnet 13, deflection electromagnet 12, quadrupole electromagnet 14, deflection electromagnet 6, quadrupole electromagnet 15, deflection electromagnet 16, quadrupole electromagnet 17, deflection electromagnet 18, deflection electromagnet 19
The electromagnet group is partially omitted from illustration. For example, the steering electromagnet in the synchrotron 9 and the beam transport system 4 is omitted.

The proton beam therapy system of this embodiment includes a control device 20, and the control device 20 includes a control unit 21 and an electromagnet power supply device 22. The electromagnet power supply 22 is for exciting each electromagnet included in the electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9 and the electromagnet group belonging to the beam transport system 4.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control unit 21 of the control device 20 of the present embodiment and the signal transmission / reception relationship between the control unit 21, the electromagnet power supply device 22, the charged particle beam generator 1, and the treatment room 2. The flow of processing in the control unit 21 is shown in FIG.

The control unit 21 includes a storage device 24, an output device 25, and a sequencer 23. The storage device 24 includes an initialization excitation pattern 26 for each electromagnet necessary for the initialization operation and a normal excitation for each electromagnet necessary for the normal operation. The pattern 27 is stored and held in advance. The control unit 21 includes a normal operation start determination device 28, an initialization operation start determination device 29, and an initialization timer 30.

When the normal operation is completed, a normal operation completion signal 35 is output from the charged particle beam generator 1. In response to this, the initialization operation start determination device 29 outputs an initialization operation start command 31 to the output device 25 (step S140). At the same time, the initialization operation start determination device 29 outputs an initialization operation start signal 32 to the initialization timer. The initialization timer stores the timing at which the initialization start signal 32 is received. And when there is no initialization start signal for a predetermined time or more after receiving the previous initialization start signal, it is determined that the residual magnetic field of the electromagnet has changed over time, and the initialization operation start determination device A reinitialization request 33 is output. Upon receiving the re-initialization request 33, the initialization operation start determination device 29 outputs an initialization operation start command 31 to the output device 25 (step S100). Further, when the treatment is interrupted in the treatment room 2 due to manual operation or interlock operation, or when the normal operation is interrupted due to the interlock operation in the charged particle beam generator 1, etc., the normal operation stop commands 34a and 34b are issued. Are output from the treatment room 2 and the charged particle beam generator 1 to the initialization operation start determination device 29. Even in this case, the initialization operation start determination device 29 outputs the initialization operation start command 31 to the output device 25 (step S130).

When the output device 25 receives the initialization operation start command 31, the output device 25 outputs the initialization pattern 26 stored in the storage device 24 to the electromagnet power supply device 22, and performs the initialization operation to initialize the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation. (Step S150). When the initialization operation is completed, the initialization operation completion signal 36 is output from the electromagnet power supply device 22 to the normal operation start determination device 28, and the normal operation can be started (step S160). Thereafter, in response to a normal operation start request 37 from the treatment room 2, the normal operation start determination device 28 outputs a normal operation start signal 38 to the output device 25 and the charged particle beam generator 1. When the output device 25 receives the normal operation start command 38, the output device 25 outputs the operation pattern 27 stored in the storage device 24 to the electromagnet power supply device 22, and normal operation is performed (steps S110 → S120).

Next, a comparison between the conventional initialization operation method and the initialization operation method in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the excitation state of the electromagnet power source belonging to the beam transport system during normal operation and initialization operation in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the flow of operation in the case where the normal operation per person is repeated three times for two patients in comparison with the conventional embodiment. The treatment room preparation in the figure refers to a preparation process such as patient fixation, and the irradiation preparation refers to a preparation process such as adjustment of a nozzle and a gantry before starting normal operation. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the excitation state of the transport system electromagnet during the initialization operation in comparison with the prior art and the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in the normal operation, “incidence → acceleration → extraction → deceleration” of the charged particle beam is performed as one operation cycle, and this is repeated as many times as necessary (in the example of FIG. 5, three times). The maximum and minimum excitations of the electromagnet are repeated a plurality of times (three times in the example of FIG. 5).

As shown on the upper side of FIG. 4, in the conventional initialization operation method, the initialization operation is performed before each normal operation. On the other hand, in the initialization operation method of the present embodiment, as shown in the lower side of FIG. 4, the initialization operation is performed before the normal operation 1 because a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous initialization operation. However, otherwise, the initialization operation is automatically started after each normal operation, and the initialization operation is performed. In addition, regarding the initialization operation after the normal operation, the waiting time due to the initialization operation is eliminated by performing in parallel with the irradiation preparation. If the initialization operation is performed after the irradiation operation, the initialization operation before the normal operation becomes unnecessary, and the usage time of the irradiation apparatus is shortened.

As described above, in this embodiment, after the normal operation, the initialization operation of the electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9 and the electromagnet group belonging to the transport system is performed, and at the same time, the next irradiation preparation is performed, thereby reducing the operation rate of the apparatus. Can be increased.

In FIG. 3, the treatment room preparation is 15 minutes, the irradiation preparation is 5 minutes, the normal operation is 2 minutes, and the initialization operation is 1 minute. In this case, the operating time of the apparatus in the conventional initialization operation method is 68 minutes from the following equation.

15 * 2 + 5 * 4 + 2 * 6 + 1 * 6 = 68
On the other hand, the operating time of the apparatus in the initialization operation method of the present embodiment is 63 minutes from the following equation.

15 * 2 + 5 * 4 + 2 * 6 + 1 * 1 = 63
Therefore, the time required for treatment of two patients can be shortened by 5 minutes.

<Second Embodiment>
A charged particle irradiation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 6, the proton beam treatment system which is the charged particle irradiation system of the present embodiment includes a charged particle beam generator 1 similar to that of the first embodiment and three

treatment rooms

2A, 2B, 2C. And a first beam transport system 4A connected to the downstream side of the charged particle beam generator 1 and second

beam transport systems

5A, 5B, 5C provided so as to branch from the first beam transport system 4A, respectively. It has a beam transport system. The first beam transport system 4A is a common beam transport system that guides an ion beam to each of the second

beam transport systems

5A, 5B, and 5C.

The synchrotron 9 of the charged particle beam generator 1 includes an electromagnet group (hereinafter referred to as a first electromagnet group) such as a quadrupole electromagnet 51 and a deflection electromagnet 52 as described above. The ion beam emitted from the synchrotron 9 is transported downstream from the first beam transport system 4A. The first beam transport system 4A includes a quadrupole electromagnet 13, a deflection electromagnet 12, a quadrupole electromagnet 14A, a switching electromagnet 6A, a quadrupole electromagnet 14B, a switching electromagnet 6B, a quadrupole electromagnet 14C, and a switching electromagnet arranged on the beam path from the upstream side in the beam traveling direction. 6C and a quadrupole electromagnet 14D. The ion beam introduced into the first beam transport system 4A is selected as one of the second

beam transport systems

5A, 5B, and 5C depending on the presence or absence of a deflection action by switching the

excitation electromagnets

6A, 6B, and 6C. Introduced. Each switching electromagnet is a kind of deflection electromagnet.

The second beam transport system 5A is connected to the beam path of the first transport system 4A and is connected to the irradiation apparatus 10A disposed in the treatment room 2A. The quadrupole electromagnet 15A is disposed from the upstream side in the beam traveling direction in the beam path. , A deflection electromagnet 16A, a quadrupole electromagnet 17A, a deflection electromagnet 18A, and a deflection electromagnet 19A. It can be said that the switching electromagnet 6A is arranged on the beam path of the second beam transport system 5A.

The second beam transport system 5B and the second beam transport system 5C are configured similarly to the second beam transport system 5A. These second

beam transport systems

2B and 2C are composed of constituent elements obtained by adding subscripts B and C in place of the subscript A to the reference numerals of the constituent elements of the second beam transport system 2A.

The ion beam introduced into the second beam transport system 5A is transported to the irradiation device 10A through the beam path by excitation of the electromagnet. Similarly, in the second

beam transport systems

5B and 5C, the ion beams are transported to the irradiation devices 10B and 10C through the respective beam paths.

Among the electromagnets in the proton beam therapy system of the present embodiment, the electromagnet groups belonging to the first beam transport system 4A and the second beam transport systems 5A to 5C are listed below.

<Electromagnet group belonging to first beam transport system 4A (hereinafter referred to as second electromagnet group)>
A quadrupole electromagnet 13, a deflection electromagnet 12, a quadrupole electromagnet 14A, a switching electromagnet 6A, a quadrupole electromagnet 14B, a switching electromagnet 6B, a quadrupole electromagnet 14C, a switching electromagnet 6C, and a quadrupole electromagnet 14D.

<Electromagnet group belonging to second beam transport systems 5A to 5C (hereinafter referred to as third electromagnet group)>
1. Electromagnet group corresponding to treatment room 2A (four-pole electromagnet 15A, deflection electromagnet 16A, quadrupole electromagnet 17A, deflection electromagnet 18A, deflection electromagnet 19A)
2. Electromagnet group corresponding to treatment room 2B (quadrupole electromagnet 15B, deflection electromagnet 16B, quadrupole electromagnet 17B, deflection electromagnet 18B, deflection electromagnet 19B)
3. Electromagnet group electromagnet group (quadrupole electromagnet 15C, deflection electromagnet 16C, quadrupole electromagnet 17C, deflection electromagnet 18C, deflection electromagnet 19C) corresponding to treatment room 2C.

The electromagnet group is partially omitted from explanation. For example, the steering electromagnets in the synchrotron 9, the first beam transport system 4A, and the second

beam transport systems

5A, 5B, and 5C are omitted.

The proton beam therapy system of this embodiment includes a control device 20A, and the control device 20A includes a control unit 21A, an electromagnet power supply device 22A, and a load switching device 40. The control unit 21A includes an electromagnet control unit 21a and a load switching control unit 21b. The functions of the electromagnet controller 21a and the load switching controller 21b will be described later. The electromagnet power supply device 22A includes the electromagnets included in the first electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9, the second electromagnet group belonging to the first beam transport system 4A, and the third electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport systems 5A to 5C, respectively. A first electromagnet power supply device 22a for exciting the first electromagnet group and the second electromagnet group, and a second electromagnet power supply device 22b for exciting the third electromagnet group. Yes. When the treatment room is selected, the load switching device 40 selects the second electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to the treatment room among the third electromagnet groups belonging to the second beam transport systems 5A to 5C. It switches so that it may connect with the electromagnet power supply device 22b, and performs excitation control of these electromagnet groups.

The configuration of the electromagnet control section 21a of the control section 21A of the control apparatus 20A of the present embodiment, the electromagnet control section 21a and the load switching control section 21b of the control section 21A, the electromagnet power supply apparatus 22A, the load switching apparatus 40, and the charged particle beam generator 1. FIG. 7 shows the signal transmission / reception relationship between the

treatment rooms

2A, 2B, and 2C.

In the control unit 21A, the electromagnet control unit 21a corresponds to the control unit 21 in the first embodiment, and the process flow in the electromagnet control unit 21a is the same as that in FIG.

This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the normal part occupies corresponding portions of the synchrotron 9 and the first beam transport system, and each treatment room outputs a normal operation start request 37. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the load on the third electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system for guiding the beam to the treatment room.

For example, when treatment is performed in the treatment room 2A, among the electromagnet group of the synchrotron 9 and the second electromagnet group belonging to the first beam transport system 4A, the

electromagnet groups

12, 13, 14A, and the third group belonging to the second beam transport system 5A. The

electromagnet groups

6A, 15A to 19A are excited to perform normal operation. When the normal operation is completed, a normal operation completion signal 35 is output from the charged particle beam generator 1, and in response to this, the initialization operation start determination device 29 outputs an initialization operation start command 31 to the output device 25 (FIG. 3 step S140). Upon receiving the initialization operation start command 31, the output device 25 outputs the initialization pattern 26 stored in the storage device 24 to the electromagnet power supply device 22A, and the initialization operation is performed (step S150 in FIG. 3). That is, when the normal operation is completed, the initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation is automatically performed. The electromagnet control unit 21a of the control unit 21A performs control of normal operation and initialization operation performed by selecting the electromagnet group and exciting the electromagnet group in the first beam transport system 4A.

After this, when treatment is performed in another treatment room, the load is switched to guide the beam to the treatment room. This load switching is performed as follows.

In each

treatment room

2A, 2B, 2C, when treatment room preparation such as patient positioning or irradiation preparation such as nozzle and gantry adjustment is completed, a preparation completion signal 41 is output from each treatment room to the load switching control unit 21b. . When the initialization operation is completed, the initialization operation completion signal 36 is output from the electromagnet power supply device 22A to the normal operation start determination device 28 and the load switching control unit 21b. Upon receiving the preparation completion signal 41 and the initialization operation completion signal 36, the load switching control unit 21b immediately outputs a load switching request 42 to the load switching device 40. The load switching device 40 receives the load switching request 42 and performs load switching, and then outputs a load switching completion signal 43 to the load switching control unit 21b. The load switching control unit 21b sends a normal operation start permission signal 44 to the treatment room. Output to. Thus, the normal operation can be started for the first time, and the normal operation start request 37 can be output from the treatment room.

In the present embodiment, when the electromagnet group is initialized by the initialization operation, the time when the initialization is completed is stored, and when the electromagnet group is not initialized for a predetermined time from this time. The initialization operation for reinitializing the electromagnet group is automatically performed (step S100 in FIG. 3), and when the normal operation stop command is received during the normal operation, the normal operation is stopped and the electromagnet group is The initialization operation to be initialized automatically (step S130 in FIG. 3) is the same as in the first embodiment. However, the re-initialization when the initialization has not been performed for a predetermined time or more after the previous initialization is performed by the electromagnet group of the synchrotron 9, the second electromagnet group of the first beam transport system 4A, and the second beam transport system 5A to It is necessary to re-initialize only the corresponding electromagnet group by monitoring the passage of a predetermined time from the previous initialization by distinguishing it from the 5C third electromagnet group.

Next, a comparison between the conventional initialization operation method and the initialization method in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The excitation state of the electromagnet power source belonging to the beam transport system during normal operation and initialization operation in FIGS. 8 and 9 is the same as that in FIG.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 compare two examples of the operation flow of the charged particle irradiation system when a normal operation is repeated three times for one patient in the

treatment rooms

2A and 2B. It is a time chart shown. In the conventional initialization operation method, initialization operation is performed before each irradiation. On the other hand, in the initialization operation method of the present embodiment, the initialization operation is performed before the normal operation 1 for the treatment room 2A because the fixed time has elapsed since the previous initialization operation. The initialization operation is automatically started after each normal operation, and the initialization operation is performed. As for the treatment room 2B, since a predetermined time has not elapsed since the previous initialization operation, it is not necessary to perform the initialization operation before the normal operation 4. Regarding the initialization operation after irradiation, the next irradiation preparation is performed in parallel with the initialization operation.

FIG. 8 is an example in the case where the beam irradiation starts in the

treatment rooms

2A and 2B overlap and the normal operation is alternately performed. In a charged particle irradiation system that branches into a plurality of treatment rooms, normal operation and initialization operation in another treatment room cannot be started when normal operation and initialization operation are performed in a certain treatment room. Therefore, in this example, in both the conventional initialization operation and the initialization operation of the present embodiment, a waiting time is generated before all the normal operations except the normal operation 1, and the initialization operation is performed before the normal operation. There is no superiority or inferiority in time reduction depending on whether it is performed after normal operation.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the normal operation in the treatment room 2B is started after three normal operations in the treatment room 2A without the beam irradiation start in the

treatment rooms

2A and 2B overlapping. In the conventional initialization operation, when the preparation of the treatment room 2B is completed, the beam irradiation in the treatment room 2A is not completely completed, and a waiting time occurs before the normal operation 4. Even in the initialization operation of the present embodiment, a waiting time occurs before the normal operation 4, but the beam irradiation of the treatment room 2A is completed earlier by performing the initialization operation and the irradiation preparation in parallel. Therefore, the waiting time before the normal operation 4 is shortened. In addition, in the treatment room 2B, the apparatus operation time is shortened by performing initialization and irradiation preparation in parallel.

In FIG. 9, treatment room preparation is 15 minutes, irradiation preparation is 5 minutes, normal operation is 2 minutes, and initialization operation is 1 minute. In this case, the time required for completing six normal operations in the conventional initialization operation method is 53 minutes from the following equation.

15 * 1 + 5 * 4 + 2 * 6 + 1 * 6 = 53
On the other hand, the time required to complete a total of six irradiations in the initialization operation method of the present embodiment is 49 minutes from the following equation.

15 * 1 + 5 * 4 + 2 * 6 + 1 * 2 = 49
Therefore, the time required for treatment of two patients can be shortened by 4 minutes.

FIG. 10 shows the initialization status of each electromagnet in the conventional initialization operation of FIG. 8, and FIG. 11 shows the initialization status of each electromagnet in the initialization operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows the normal operation of the treatment room 2A in the conventional initialization operation of FIG. 8 (normal operation 1, normal operation 2, normal operation 3) and the normal operation of the treatment room 2B (normal operation 4, normal operation 5, normal operation). The initialization status of the operation 6) is indicated by white for the initialized electromagnet and black for the uninitialized electromagnet. During the normal operation of the treatment room 2A, the first electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9 and the second electromagnet group from the upstream side of the first beam transport system to the position immediately before the switching electromagnet 6A, the treatment room 2A, by the immediately preceding initialization operation. The third electromagnet group (including the switching electromagnet 6A) belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to is initialized. During the normal operation of the treatment room 2B, the first electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9 and the second electromagnet group from the upstream side of the first beam transport system to the position immediately before the switching electromagnet 6B, the treatment room 2B, by the immediately previous initialization operation. The third electromagnet group (including the switching electromagnet 6B) belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to is initialized. However, regarding the switching electromagnet 6A, since the electromagnet power supply device 22b is switched to be connected to the switching electromagnet 6B by the load switching device 40, the switching electromagnet 6A is only in a non-excited state and is not initialized. Therefore, the residual magnetic field of the switching electromagnet 6A during normal operation in the treatment room 6B is affected by hysteresis due to normal operation in the treatment room 2A. And the influence which the normal driving | operation of the treatment room 2B receives from the residual magnetic field of 6 A of switching electromagnets changes every time.

11 shows the normal operation of the treatment room 2A (normal operation 1, normal operation 2, normal operation 3) and the normal operation of the treatment room 2B (normal operation 4, normal operation) in the initialization operation of the present embodiment of FIG. 5. Initialization status of normal operation 6) is indicated by white for an initialized electromagnet and black for an uninitialized electromagnet. During normal operation of the treatment room 2A, the first electromagnet group belonging to the synchrotron 9 and the upstream side of the first beam transport system by the initialization operation immediately before the normal operation 1 and the initialization operation immediately after the normal operation 1 and the normal operation 2 The second electromagnet group up to immediately before the switching electromagnet 6A and the third electromagnet group (including the switching electromagnet 6A) belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to the treatment room 2A are already initialized. Further, the treatment room 2B is located upstream of the first beam transport system due to the fact that a fixed time has not passed since the previous initialization operation immediately before the normal operation 4 and the initialization operation immediately after the normal operation 4 and the normal operation 5. The second electromagnet group up to immediately before the switching electromagnet 6B and the third electromagnet group (including the switching electromagnet 6B) belonging to the second beam transport system corresponding to the treatment room 2B have been initialized. Further, since the electromagnet used after the normal operation of the treatment room 2A is initialized, the normal state of the treatment room 2B is the same as the normal state of the treatment room 2A. Since the initialization operation of the switching electromagnet 6A is performed, the hysteresis due to the normal operation in the treatment room 2A does not affect the beam irradiation in the treatment room 2B.

In addition, the initialization state of each electromagnet in FIG. 9 is similarly as shown in FIGS.

In the second embodiment, by performing the initialization operation after the normal operation, the influence of the hysteresis due to the normal operation in the previous treatment room can be made constant every time. In addition, the initialization operation is performed after the normal operation, and the next irradiation preparation is performed in parallel therewith, so that the operation time of the apparatus can be shortened depending on the treatment start timing of each treatment room.

In the first and second embodiments, the example of the synchrotron is given, but the same effect can be obtained in the cyclotron.

1 charged

particle beam generator

2, 2A, 2B, 2C treatment room 4 beam transport system 4A first

beam transport system

5A, 5B, 5C second

beam transport system

6, 8, 12, 16, 16A, 16B, 16C, 18 , 18A, 18B, 18C, 19, 19A, 19B,

19C Deflection electromagnet

6A, 6B, 6C Switching electromagnet 7 Pre-stage accelerator 9

Synchrotron

10, 10A, 10B,

10C Irradiation device

13, 14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 15, 15A, 15B, 15C, 17, 17A, 17B,

17C Quadrupole electromagnets

20,

20A Control devices

21, 21A Control unit 21a Electromagnet control unit 21b Load switching control unit 22 Electromagnet power supply device 22a First electromagnet power supply device 22b Second electromagnet Power supply device 23 Sequencer 24 Storage device 25 Output device 26 Initialization pattern 27 Normal operation pattern 2 Normal operation determination device 29 Initialization operation determination device 30 Initialization timer 31 Initialization operation start command 32 Initialization operation start signal 33 Reinitialization request 34a, 34b Normal operation stop command 35 Normal operation completion signal 36 Initialization operation completion signal 37 Normal operation start request 38 Normal operation start signal 40 Load switching device 41 Preparation completion signal 42 Load switching request 43 Load switching completion signal 44 Normal operation start permission signal 51 Quadrupole electromagnet 52 Bending electromagnet

Claims

A charged particle beam generator (1) for emitting a charged particle beam;
An irradiation device (10) for irradiating the charged particle beam;
In a charged particle irradiation system comprising a beam transport system (4) for transporting the charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam generator to the irradiation device,
After completion of normal operation performed by exciting the electromagnet group (51, 52) belonging to the charged particle beam generator (1) and the electromagnet group (6, 12 to 19) belonging to the beam transport system (4), the normal operation is performed. A charged particle irradiation system comprising a control device (21) for automatically performing an initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in step (1).
A charged particle beam generator (1) for emitting a charged particle beam;
A plurality of irradiation devices (10A to 10C) respectively installed at a plurality of locations;
A beam transport system (4A, 5A to 5C) that communicates with the charged particle beam generator and transports the charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam generator to each of the irradiation devices;
The beam transport system includes a first beam transport system (4A) connected to the charged particle beam generator and a plurality of second beams branched from the first beam transport system and connected to the irradiation devices. In a charged particle irradiation system having a transport system (5A-5C),
Irradiation device used for treatment among the plurality of irradiation devices (10A to 10C) from the upstream side of the first beam transport system (4A) from the electromagnet group (51, 52) belonging to the charged particle beam generator (1). Electromagnet groups (for example, 12, 13, 14A) up to switching electromagnets (for example, 6A) corresponding to (for example, 10A), and electromagnet groups (for example, 6A, 6A) belonging to the second beam transport system (for example, 5A) corresponding to the irradiation apparatus. Charged particles comprising a control device (21A, 21a) for automatically performing an initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation after the normal operation performed by exciting 12A to 19A) is completed Irradiation system.
A charged particle beam generator (1) for emitting a charged particle beam;
A plurality of irradiation devices (10A to 10C) respectively installed at a plurality of locations (2A to 2C);
A beam transport system (4A, 5A to 5C) that communicates with the charged particle beam generator and transports the charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam generator to each of the irradiation devices;
The beam transport system includes a first beam transport system (4A) connected to the charged particle beam generator and a plurality of first branches branched from the first beam transport system and connected to the plurality of irradiation devices. 2 beam transport system (5A-5C)
The charged particle beam generator (1) has a first electromagnet group (51, 52), and the first beam transport system (4A) has a second electromagnet group (12, 13, 14A-14D), The plurality of second beam transport systems (5A to 5C) includes a third electromagnet group (6A, 15A to 19A, 6B, 15B to 19B, 6C, 15C to 19C), and the third electromagnet group includes the first electromagnet group. In a charged particle irradiation system including a switching electromagnet group (6A to 6C) arranged at each branch position of the plurality of second beam transport systems from a beam transport system,
A first electromagnet power supply (22a) for exciting the first electromagnet group (51, 52) and the second electromagnet group (12, 13, 14A-14D);
A second electromagnet power supply (22b) for exciting the third electromagnet group (6A, 15A to 19A, 6B, 15B to 19B, 6C, 15C to 19C);
Among the electromagnets of the third electromagnet group, the selected electromagnet group (for example, 6A, 15A to 19A) belonging to one second beam transport system (for example, 5A) selected for treatment is used as the second electromagnet power supply device. A load switching device (40) for switching to connect to (22b);
Of the first electromagnet group belonging to the charged particle beam generator (1) and the second electromagnet group belonging to the first beam transport system, the second one selected from the upstream side of the first beam transport system. The electromagnet group (for example, 12, 13, 14A) up to immediately before the switching electromagnet (for example, 6A) corresponding to the beam transport system (for example, 5A) and the third electromagnet group belonging to the second beam transport system are selected. The first control device (21A, 21a) for automatically performing initialization operation for initializing the electromagnet group excited in the normal operation after the normal operation performed by exciting the electromagnet group (for example, 6A, 15A to 19A) is completed. When,
A preparation completion signal (41) indicating that the initialization operation by the first control device is completed and that irradiation preparation at one of the plurality of locations (2A to 2C) (for example, 2B) is completed at that location. Is output, and the selected electromagnet belonging to the second beam transport system (for example, 5B) corresponding to the one place among the electromagnets of the third electromagnet group is controlled. A charged particle irradiation system comprising: a second control device (21A, 21b) that switches a group (for example, 6B, 15B to 19B) to connect to the second electromagnet power supply device (22b).
The charged particle irradiation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The control device (21) further stores a time when the initialization is completed when the electromagnet group (51, 52, 6, 12 to 19) is initialized by the initialization operation. A charged particle irradiation system, wherein an initialization operation for reinitializing the electromagnet group is automatically performed when the electromagnet group is not initialized for a set predetermined time or more.
The charged particle irradiation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The control device (21) further stops the normal operation and initializes the electromagnet groups (51, 52, 6, 12 to 19) when a normal operation stop command is received during the normal operation. Charged particle irradiation system characterized by automatically performing initialization operation.