SU-E-T-755: Timing Characteristics of Proton and Carbon Ion Treatments Using a Synchrotron and Modulated Scanning

Purpose: The time required to deliver a treatment impacts not only the number of patients that can be treated each day but also the accuracy of delivery due to potential movements of patient tissues. Both macroscopic and microscopic timing characteristics of a beam delivery system were studied to examine their impacts on patient treatments. Methods: 35 patients were treated during a clinical trial to demonstrate safety and efficacy of a Siemens Iontris system prior to receiving approval from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration. The system has a variable cycle time and can provide proton beams from 48 to 221 MeV/n and carbon ions from 86 to 430 MeV/n. A modulated scanning beam delivery technique is used where the beam remains stationary at each spot aiming location and is not turned off while the spot quickly moves from one aiming location to the next. The treatment log files for 28 of the trial patients were analyzed to determine several timing characteristics. Results: The average portal time per target dose was 172.5 s/Gy for protons and 150.7 s/Gy for carbon ions. The maximum delivery time for any portal was less than 300 s. The average dwell time per spot was 12 ms for protons and 3.0 ms for carbon ions. The number of aiming positions per energy layer varied from 1 to 258 for protons and 1 to 621 for carbon ions. The average spill time and cycle time per energy layer were 1.20 and 2.68 s for protons and 0.95 and 4.73 s for carbon ions respectively. For 3 of the patients, the beam was gated on and off to reduce the effects of respiration. Conclusion: For a typical target volume of 153 cc as used in this clinical trial, the portal delivery times were acceptable.