Optimization of Medical Accelerators*

The Optimization of Medical Accelerators (OMA) is the aim of a new European training network. OMA joins universities, research centers and clinical facilities with industry partners to address the challenges in treatment facility design and optimization, numerical simulations for advanced treatment schemes, and beam imaging and treatment monitoring. Projects include: compact accelerators for proton beam energy boosting and gantry design; strategies for improving Monte Carlo codes for medical applications and treatment planning; and advanced diagnostics for online beam monitoring. The latter involves RF-based measurements of ultra-low charges and new encoding methodologies for ultra-fast 3D surface scanning. This paper presents an overview of the network's research program and highlights the various challenges across the 3 scientific work packages. It also summarizes the network-wide training program consisting of schools, topical workshops and conferences that will be open to the wider medical and accelerator communities.