The Proposed Accelerator Facility for Light Ion Cancer Therapy in Heidelberg Facility

During the last four years GSI has developed a procedure for cancer treatment by means of the intensity controlled rasterscan-method. This method includes active variations of beam parameters during the treatment session and the integration of ’on-line’ PET monitoring. Starting in 1997 several patients have been successfully treated within this 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] 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. 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 GSI therapy program.