Particle beam irradiation apparatus, treatment planning unit, and particle beam irradiation method

A particle beam emitting apparatus comprising:

• an accelerator for extracting a charged particle beam;
• a beam delivery apparatus having a charged particle beam scanning unit and irradiating the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator;
• and
• a controller in which a plurality of irradiation positions, a number of times of irradiation per each irradiation position and an irradiation dose per one time of irradiation are set for each of a plurality of layer regions formed by dividing an affected part in the direction of irradiation of said charged particle beam, and that controls the charged particle beam scanning unit for each of said plurality of layer regions such that the beam irradiation at one position is divided into a plurality of times and the number of times of irradiation becomes said set number of times while the irradiation dose per one time of irradiation becomes said set irradiation dose.

A particle beam emitting apparatus comprising:

• an accelerator for extracting a charged particle beam;
• a beam delivery apparatus having a charged particle beam scanning unit and irradiating the charged particle beam extracted from the acceleration;
• a beam transport unit for introducing the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator into the beam delivery apparatus;
• a controller in which a plurality of irradiation positions, a number of times of irradiation per each irradiation position and an irradiation dose per one time of irradiation are set for each of a plurality of layer regions formed by dividing an affected part in the direction of irradiation of said charged particle beam, and that, for each of said plurality of layer regions, stops the output of the charged particle beam from the beam delivery apparatus, and, in a state where the irradiation of the charged particle beam is stopped, controls the charged particle beam scanning unit to change the irradiation position of the charged particle beam, and then starts the irradiation of the charged particle beam from the beam delivery apparatus after said change, the stoppage of beam irradiation, the change in the irradiation position and the starting of the beam irradiation being repeated until the charged particle beam is irradiated to all of said plurality of set irradiation positions, and that, upon the irradiation of the charged particle beam to each of said plurality of set irradiation positions, controls the charged particle beam scanning unit such that the beam irradiation at one position is divided into a plurality of times and the number of times of irrigation dose per one time irradiation becomes said set irradiation dose;
• and
• a second controller that, when an irradiation end signal of the charged particle beam with respect to a portion of said plurality of set irradiation positions is inputted from the first controller, controls a first element at least provided in a beam transport unit to introduce the charged particle beam that has been changed in energy with respect to the beam before inputting the irradiation end signal, into the beam delivery apparatus.

A method for irradiating a charged particle beam extracted by an accelerator from an beam delivery apparatus having a charged particle beam scanning unit, the method comprising the steps of:

• setting a plurality of irradiation positions, a number of times of irradiation per each irradiation position and an irradiation dose per one time of irradiation for each of a plurality of layer regions formed by dividing an affected part in the direction of irradiation of said charged particle beam;
• for each of said plurality of layer regions, stopping the irradiation of the charged particle beam from the beam delivery apparatus;
• in this irradiation stop state, controlling the charged particle beam scanning unit to change the irradiation position of the charged particle beam;
• starting the irradiation of the charged particle beam from the beam delivery apparatus after said change;
• repeating the stoppage of beam irradiation, the change in the irradiation position and the starting of the beam irradiation until the charged particle beam is irradiated to all of said plurality of set irradiation positions;
• and
• upon the irradiation of the charged particle beam to each of said plurality of set irradiation positions, controlling the charged particle beam scanning unit such that the beam irradiation at one position is divided into a plurality of times and the number of times of irradiation becomes said set number of times while the irradiation dose per one time of irradiation becomes said set irradiation dose.

A particle beam irradiation apparatus comprising:

• an accelerator for extracting a charged particle beam;
• a beam delivery apparatus having a charged particle beam scanning unit and irradiating the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator;
• and
• a controller in which a plurality of irradiation positions, a number of times of irradiation per each irradiation position and an irradiation dose per one time of irradiation are set for each of a plurality of layer regions formed by dividing an affected part in the direction of irradiation of said charged particle beam, and that controls said charged particle beam scanning unit for each of said plurality of layer regions so as to irradiate one of the set irradiation positions with the charged particle beam of the set irradiation dose, and stop the irradiation of the charged particle beam from the beam delivery apparatus, and change the irradiation position of the charged particle beam in a state where the irradiation of the charged particle beam is stopped, and further irradiate the irradiation positions as changed with the charged particle beam of the set irradiation dose, and thereafter, in the same layer region, repeat the irradiation of the charged particle beam, the stoppage of beam irradiation, the change in the irradiation position until all of said plurality of set irradiation positions are irradiated with the charged particle beam of the set irradiation dose by the set number of times of irradiation.

A particle beam irradiation apparatus comprising;

• an accelerator for extracting a charged particle beam;
• a beam delivery apparatus having a charged particle beam scanning unit and irradiating the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator to each of a plurality of layer regions formed by dividing an affected part in the direction of irradiation of said charged particle beam;
• and
• a controller in which a plurality of irradiation positions, a number of times or irradiation per each irradiation position and an irradiation dose per one time of irradiation are set for each of said plurality of layer regions, and that controls said charged particle beam scanning unit to move the charged particle beam such that, in each of said plurality of layer regions, said set irradiation positions are each irradiated with the chared particle beam by the set number of times while the irradiation dose per on time of irradiation becomes the set irradiation dose;
• said controller further controlling said charged particle beam scanning unit such that, when said plurality of layer regions contains a first layer and a second layer, the first layer being positioned deeper than the second layer in the direction of irradiation of the charged particle beam, and said second layer includes a first portion which is not irradiated with the charged particle beam when said first layer is irradiated with said charged particle beam at said plurality of irradiation, and a second portion which is irradiated with the charged particle beam when said first layer is irradiated with said charged particle beam at said plurality of irradiation, a plurality of irradiation positions contained in said second portion of the second layer are each irradiated with the charged particle beam by a first set number of times, while a plurality of irradiation positions contained in said first portion of the second layer are each irradiated with the charged particle beam by a second set number of times larger than said first set number of times.