The Proposed Dedicated Ion Beam Facility for Cancer Therapy at the Clinic in Heidelberg

Starting in 1997 nearly 60 patients have been successfully treated by means of the intensity controlled rasterscanmethod within the GSI experimental cancer treatment program. The developments and experiences of this program accompanied by intensive discussions with the medical community led to a proposal for a hospital based light ion accelerator facility for the clinic in Heidelberg. [1] Major aspects of the design are influenced from the experiences of the GSI cancer treatment program; the requirements of this facility, however, exceed in many fields those of this pilot project. The main characteristics of this facility are the application of the rasterscan method with active intensity-, energy-, and beamsizevariation in combination with the usage of isocentric light ion gantries. The accelerator is designed to accelerate both low LET ions (p, He) and high LET ions (C, O) to cover the specific medical requirements.