A European Collaboration to Investigate Superconducting Magnets for Next Generation Heavy Ion Therapy

Abstract

Next generation ion therapy magnets both for gantry and for accelerator (synchrotron) are under investigation in a recently launched European collaboration that, in the frame of the European H2020 HITRIplus and I.FAST programmes, has obtained some funding for work packages on superconducting magnets. Design and technology of superconducting magnets will be developed for ion therapy synchrotron and -especially-gantry, taking as reference beams of 430 MeV/nucleon ions (C-ions) with 10 10 ions/pulse. The magnets are about 60-90 mm diameter, 4 to 5 T peak field with a field change of about 0.3 T/s and good field quality. The paper will illustrate the organization of the collaboration and the technical program. Various superconductor options (LTS, MgB2 or HTS) and different magnet shapes, like classical CosTheta or innovative Canted CosTheta (CCT), with curved multifunction (dipole and quadrupole), are under evaluation, CCT being the baseline. These studies should provide design inputs for a new superconducting gantry design for existing facilities and, on a longer time scale, for a brand-new hadron therapy centre to be placed in the South East Europe (SEEIIST project).

Innovations in the Next Generation Medical Accelerators for Therapy with Ion Beams

“…A strong program for the SC magnet development is ongoing within HITRIplus, with contributions from another European Program I.FAST and several additional collaborations and national programs [10]. The magnet parameters are listed in Table 1.…”

Magnet Technology and Design of Superconducting Magnets for Heavy Ion Gantry for Hadron Therapy

“…) is an INFN-driven project inserted in the general framework of a four-party agreement between INFN, CNAO, CERN, and MedAustron [4][5][6][7][8][9]. The scope of the project is to contribute to the development of key technologies for an ion gantry including a 4 T superconducting curved dipole demonstrator magnet, a downstream scanning magnet system, and dose delivery and range verification systems for ions.…”

“…A European collaboration, funded by the EC-Horizon2020 HITRIplus and I.FAST programs [7,11,12], is currently investigating next-generation ion therapy magnets for both gantry and accelerator (synchrotron) applications. The collaboration has secured funding for work packages focused on superconducting magnet development.…”

“…Several initiatives in Europe aim to develop super-conducting magnets for a rotatable gantry that can deliver high-energy carbon ions of maximum rigidity of 6.6 Tm for hadron therapy. One project, SIG [4][5][6][7][8][9], led by INFN with collaboration from CERN, CNAO, and MedAustron, is designing a strongly curved cosθ dipole with a central field rating of 4 T and a ramp rate of 0.15-0.4 T/s. Another initiative, H2020-HITRIplus-WP8 [7,11], partly supported by the EU, aims to explore the feasibility of using the CCT concept to produce a super-conducting dipole with similar characteristics, while the H2020-I.FAST-WP8 [7,12] collaboration, also partly supported by the EU, is exploring CCT in combined function design and the use of HTS (REBCO tapes) with CCT dipole layout.…”

“…One project, SIG [4][5][6][7][8][9], led by INFN with collaboration from CERN, CNAO, and MedAustron, is designing a strongly curved cosθ dipole with a central field rating of 4 T and a ramp rate of 0.15-0.4 T/s. Another initiative, H2020-HITRIplus-WP8 [7,11], partly supported by the EU, aims to explore the feasibility of using the CCT concept to produce a super-conducting dipole with similar characteristics, while the H2020-I.FAST-WP8 [7,12] collaboration, also partly supported by the EU, is exploring CCT in combined function design and the use of HTS (REBCO tapes) with CCT dipole layout. These projects seek to design and manufacture small prototypes to determine the viability of these technologies, which could offer significant benefits to the cryogenic design of the magnet system.…”