THE VARIAN 250 MeV SUPERCONDUCTING COMPACT PROTON CYCLOTRON: MEDICAL OPERATION OF THE 2nd MACHINE,PRODUCTION AND COMMISSIONING STATUS OF MACHINES

Varian Medical Systems Particle Therapy has successfully commissioned its 2nd superconducting compact proton cyclotron for use in proton therapy in 2008. The 250 MeV machine serves as proton source for treatments at the first clinical proton therapy center in Germany which opened in early 2009. Furthermore, Varian is currently commissioning and factory testing its 3rd machine. We report on the operation and performance of the 2nd machine as well as on the successful cool-down, quench testing, and magnetic shimming of the 3rd machine. In addition we present RF commissioning plans using a newly developed solid state amplifier, and plans for the upcoming factory beam commissioning in the new Varian cyclotron scanning nozzle test cell, scheduled for October 2010. Finally we provide a brief status and outlook on machines no. 4 to 7.IMP;Chinese Academy of Science

Beam Polarization at the ILC: The Physics Impact and the Accelerator Solutions.

In this contribution accelerator solutions for polarized beams and their impact on physics measurements are discussed. Focus are physics requirements for precision polarimetry near the interaction point and their realization with polarized sources. Based on the ILC baseline programme as described in the Reference Design Report (RDR), recent developments are discussed and evaluated taking into account physics runs at beam energies between 100 GeV and 250 GeV, as well as calibration runs on the Z-pole and options as the 1TeV upgrade and GigaZ.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of International Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS08 and ILC08), Chicago, Illinois, 16-20 Nov 200

Research at Varian on applied superconductivity for proton therapy

Proton therapy is a rapidly increasing modality to treat cancerous tumors, but large-scale implementation, and therefore widespread availability for patients, is hindered by the size and upfront investment for treatment facilities. Superconducting technology can enable more compact, and therefore more affordable treatment systems, by increasing the magnetic field in the magnets for the proton accelerator (typically a cyclotron) and in the beam guidance up, over, and into the patient (the gantry). In this article, we discuss research at Varian Medical Systems Particle Therapy GmbH on various superconducting technologies for potential application in future, more compact cyclotrons and gantries. We discuss which technologies are feasible, and to what extent. We demonstrate why certain conductor choices are made, and show the development of novel new conductor and magnet technologies that will be required to enable the next generation of cryogen-free, conduction-cooled compact treatment systems. We conclude that superconductivity is certainly required for the next generation of proton treatment systems, but also that the amount of compactness that can eventually be achieved is not solely determined by the magnetic field strength that is generated in the magnets