Proton Beams for Physics Experiments at OncoRay

Purpose: At the OncoRay center in Dresden at proton therapy facility is in operation. The first patient was treated in December 2014. The system is driven by an IBA (IBA Proton Therapy, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) Cyclone 230 isochronous cyclotron with a maximum proton energy of 230 MeV. Patients are treated in one room equipped with a 360° rotating gantry. Besides patient treatment a strong focus is on research. A dedicated experimental room is part of the facility. In the current state of expansion this room is equipped with a fixed beam line. Beam energies between 70 and 230 MeV and currents up to about 120 nA at 230 MeV can be provided.
Materials and Methods: An in house developed control system (figure 1) allows for a parallel operation of the treatment and the experimental beamline. Absolute priority for the treatment room is ensured by the control software.
The beam current is controlled by a dedicated hardware directly. Continuous wave beams as well as pulsed beams with repetition rates up to 333 Hz with variable duty cycles are available. The beam is monitored by means of a segmented ionization chamber. The beam can be activated manually, for a defined time or until a certain charge has been reached at the beam exit. A direct continuance after a beam switch to the treatment room is possible.
Results: The proton therapy system itself is operated by an IBA team, that ensures excellent beam stability and availability. Since only one treatment room is present, experiments can be performed conveniently during the day shifts. Requests from the treatment room cause interruptions of 1-2 min duration in intervals of about 20 min.
Conclusions: In summary, the OncoRay center is equipped with an experimental beamline that combines the reliability and beam quality of a commercial clinical proton therapy system with the flexibility of an in house developed control system whose design parameters are governed by the needs of physical and translational research.