Systems and methods for flash therapy

A system for delivering ultra-high dose rate irradiation to a target area of a patient, comprising:

• a charged-particle source for providing a beam of radiation in a series of pulses along a beam axis;
• a collimator for shaping the beam of radiation into a shaped beam;
• one or more cameras for imaging the target area of the patient;
• at least one controller for providing control signals to the charged-particle source;
• one or more dosimeters positioned in fringes of the beam between an output of the charged-particle source and the collimator for measuring a radiation dosage provided by each pulse and provide signals to the at least one controller;
• and
• a beam scanning coil positioned between the collimator and the patient for directing the shaped beam;
• wherein the at least one controller provides control signals to the charged-particle source and the beam scanning coil that modulate each pulse in the series of pulses in real-time;
• wherein the one or more dosimeters further comprise one or more scintillator dosimeters;
• and
• wherein the one or more scintillator dosimeters further comprise an optical liquid cell filled with a liquid scintillator solution.

A system for delivering ultra-high dose rate irradiation to a target area of a patient, comprising:

• a charged-particle source for providing a beam of radiation in a series of pulses along a beam axis;
• a collimator for shaping the beam of radiation into a shaped beam;
• one or more cameras for imaging the target area of the patient;
• at least one controller for providing control signals to the charged-particle source;
• one or more dosimeters positioned in fringes of the beam between an output of the charged-particle source and the collimator for measuring a radiation dosage provided by each pulse and provide signals to the at least one controller;
• and
• a beam scanning coil positioned between the collimator and the patient for directing the shaped beam;
• wherein the at least one controller provides control signals to the charged-particle source and the beam scanning coil that modulate each pulse in the series of pulses in real-time;
• further comprising:
• a beam dump for receiving a beam diverted by the beam scanning coil;
• where the at least one controller is configured to operate the beam scanning coil to divert the beam into the beam dump during an initial phase of beam output from the charged-particle source.

A system for delivering ultra-high dose rate irradiation to a target area of a patient, comprising:

• a charged-particle source for providing a beam of radiation in a series of pulses along a beam axis;
• a collimator for shaping the beam of radiation into a shaped beam;
• one or more cameras for imaging the target area of the patient;
• at least one controller for providing control signals to the charged-particle source;
• one or more dosimeters positioned in fringes of the beam between an output of the charged-particle source and the collimator for measuring a radiation dosage provided by each pulse and provide signals to the at least one controller;
• and
• a beam scanning coil positioned between the collimator and the patient for directing the shaped beam;
• wherein the at least one controller provides control signals to the charged-particle source and the beam scanning coil that modulate each pulse in the series of pulses in real-time;
• further comprising:
• one or more target fiducials placed in a target area for receiving the beam of radiation, wherein the one or more cameras observe the target area and the one or more target fiducials and provide feedback of patient motion to the controller.

A method of providing ultra-high dose rate irradiation to a target area of a patient, comprising:

• outputting a prescribed total radiation dose to the target area of the patient as a beam of a series of charged particle pulses from a particle source, each charged particle pulse having a prescribed single pulse radiation dose less than the prescribed total radiation dose;
• measuring a radiation dosage provided by each charged particle pulse in the series to determine an accumulated radiation dose;
• determining a difference between the prescribed total radiation dose and the accumulated radiation dose;
• and
• if the difference is smaller than the prescribed single pulse radiation dose, applying a scaling factor to a width or an intensity of a subsequent charged particle pulse;
• wherein applying a scaling factor further comprises controlling a beam scanning coil to change a width of the subsequent charged particle pulse;
• further comprising controlling the beam scanning coil to divert the charged particle pulses into a beam dump during an initial phase of output from the particle source.