A compact solution for ion beam therapy with laser accelerated protons

Abstract

The recent advancements in the field of laser-driven particle acceleration have made Laser-driven Ion Beam Therapy (L-IBT) an attractive alternative to the conventional particle therapy facilities. To bring this emerging technology to clinical application, we introduce the broad energy assorted depth dose deposition model which makes efficient use of the large energy spread and high dose-per-pulse of Laser Accelerated Protons (LAP) and is capable of delivering homogeneous doses to tumors. Furthermore, as a key component of L-IBT solution, we present a compact iso-centric gantry design with 360° rotation capability and an integrated shot-to-shot energy selection system for efficient transport of LAP with large energy spread to the patient. We show that gantry size could be reduced by a factor of 2–3 compared to conventional gantry systems by utilizing pulsed air-core magnets.