Instrumentation in medical systems

The demand for clinical use of accelerated heavy charged particle (proton and light-ion) beams for cancer treatment is now burgeoning worldwide. Clinical trials are underway at more than a dozen accelerators. Several hospital-based accelerator facilities dedicated to radiation treatment of human cancer have been constructed, and their number is growing. Many instruments in medical systems have been developed for modifying extracted particle beams for clinical application, monitoring the delivery of the treatment beams, and controlling the treatment processes to ensure patient safety. These in turn demand new developments of instruments in controlling beam extraction, beam tuning, and beam transportation at the medical systems