The Radiologische Universitätsklinik Heidelberg, the Deutsche Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg (DKFZ) and the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung Darmstadt (GSI) in  cooperation with the Forschungszentrum Rossendorf jointly propose to build a hospital-based ion beam facility for tumor therapy in Heidelberg, Germany. Compared to conventional photon radiation,the use of ion beams in cancer therapy has a number of principal advantages which allow  the effective tumor dose to be raised whilethe sourrounding healthy  tissue  can be spared. The proposed facility is capable of treating some 1000  patients per year. It centers around a synchrotron of 20 meters in diameter whichwill  provide beams of protons, helium, carbon and oxygen ions with energies between50 and 430 MeV per nucleon. Three therapy rooms will be available, one equippedwith a gantry system for multifield irradiation and two with fixed horizontalbeams. The facility will make use of major innovations made in particle therapyduring the recent years at GSI, amongst them : the intensity-controlled   raster scan technique for a 3D tumor-conformaldose delivery, the in-situ verificationof the beam position by positron emission tomography (PET), and the realisation of a biologically optimised treatment planning.

  Publications

The Proposed Dedicated Ion Beam Facility for Cancer Therapy at the Clinic in Heidelberg - EPAC2000

   Publications  :
  APF or Konus Tube Structures for Medical Synchrotron Injectors - A Comparison (PAC99)
  Design of a Carbon Injector for a Medical Accelerator Complex (EPAC98)

The gantry is an outstanding part of the facility equipment. So far, no gantry has been built for beams of particles heavier than protons. Ion gantrieswere traditionallyassumed to be too expensive and difficult to build. However, for a dedicatedcancer therapy facility where a large spectrumof tumor sites is expected tobe treated, a rotating gantry is strongly recommended as it becomes evidentfrom recent experience from proton therapy facilities.   
For the Heidelberg facility, a rotating ion gantry, equipped with a raster  scanning system is proposed. Such a combination provides the highestpossibledegree of flexibility and dose-to-tumor conformity. The gantrywill be equippedby a PET camera for in-beam PET monitoring of the irradiation procedure. Thepatient surrounding and the mechanical aspects of the gantry structure havebeen investigated by the company    ACCELand the subcontractor SEAG. At present, an alternative design based on a spacetruss structure is under investigation by MAN Technology.

Determination of mechanical deformations and stress by FEMModels

Puplications :  
GantryStudies for the Poposed Heavy Ion Cancer Therapy Facility in Heidelberg (EPAC00)

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