CABOTO, a high-gradient linac for hadrontherapy

Abstract

The field of hadrontherapy has grown rapidly in recent years. At present the therapeutic beam is provided by a cyclotron or a synchrotron, but neither cyclotrons nor synchrotrons present the best performances for hadrontherapy. The new generation of accelerators for hadrontherapy should allow fast active energy modulation and have a high repetition rate, so that moving organs can be appropriately treated in a reasonable time. In addition, a reduction of the dimensions and cost of the accelerators for hadrontherapy would make the acquisition and operation of a hadrontherapy facility more affordable, which would translate into great benefits for the potential hadrontherapy patients. The ‘cyclinac’, an accelerator concept that combines a cyclotron with a high-frequency linear accelerator (linac), is a fast-cycling machine specifically conceived to allow for fast active energy modulation. The present paper focuses on CABOTO (CArbon BOoster for Therapy in Oncology), a compact, efficient high-frequency linac that can accelerate C6+ ions and H2 molecules from 150–410 MeV/u in ∼24 m. The paper presents the latest design of CABOTO and discusses its performances.

Particle therapy of moving targets—the strategies for tumour motion monitoring and moving targets irradiation

“…This machine will enable boosting the particle energy from 150 to 410 MeV/u and vary it in steps of minimal value of 2 MeV/u in 1-2 ms without using any passive absorbers. 81 The optimal input energy of CABOTO was established to be 150 MeV/u, but owing to the lack of cyclotron delivering carbon ions of such energy, during the CABOTO test, a SCENT300 superconducting cyclotron (300 MeV/u) was used as an injector. 81 The linear accelerators do not require complicated injection and extraction systems; so, the beams produced by cyclinac are more flexible than those extracted from cyclotrons and synchrotrons.…”

“…81 The optimal input energy of CABOTO was established to be 150 MeV/u, but owing to the lack of cyclotron delivering carbon ions of such energy, during the CABOTO test, a SCENT300 superconducting cyclotron (300 MeV/u) was used as an injector. 81 The linear accelerators do not require complicated injection and extraction systems; so, the beams produced by cyclinac are more flexible than those extracted from cyclotrons and synchrotrons. 82 It should be stressed that rapid (1-2 ms) correction of the energy and thus the range of particle beams, which will enable performing 4D hadron therapy of moving targets, is the main beneficial aspect of cyclinac introduction.…”

“…77 Because of the large number of expensive 5.7-GHz modulator/klystron systems, the price of the carbon ion cyclinac with CABOTO booster is more in comparison with the 3-GHz proton cyclinac. 81 Despite the difference in price, both systems are planned to be implemented in treatment facilities. The first use of the cyclinac for proton therapy is planned in Italy at the Institute for Diagnostics and Radiotherapy in Biella.…”

New horizons in particle therapy systems

“…The idea of using a LINAC for particle therapy has been considered for some time, and conceptually developed by the TERA foundation at CERN. [55][56][57] The CERN spin-off company Applications of Detectors and Accelerators to Medicine (ADAM SA) is now building a full LINAC proton therapy system called LINAC for Image-Guided Hadron Therapy (LIGHT). The major components of the LIGHT accelerator are shown in Fig.…”

Current and future accelerator technologies for charged particle therapy

“…Their higher natural repetition rate of at least several hundred hertz (for example, the TERA LIBO structures operate as high as 400 Hz) allows for pulse-by-pulse energy variation, which removes the need for energy selection and which allows for finer control of dose delivery. This is also potentially true when applied to carbon therapy, where again the TERA foundation have developed test structures (CABOTO) for acceleration of these ion species [92].…”