Eye Tumour Therapy in Berlin

The ion beam laboratory ISL at the Hahn-MeitnerInstitut Berlin (HMI) supplied light and heavy ion beams for research and applications in solid state physics, industry, and medicine. Since 1998, eye tumours are treated with 68 MeV protons in collaboration with the University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, now Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin. In autumn 2004 the board of directors of the HMI decided to close down ISL at the end of 2006. In December 2006, a cooperation contract between the Charité and the HMI was signed to assure the continuity of the eye tumour therapy, at this moment being the only facility in Germany. The accelerator operation, continued with reduced manpower, required changes in the set-up of the accelerators. A new, facile injector for protons is under commissioning. Increasing the reliability will be a key issue. The last two years of operation of ISL as a full multipurpose accelerator will be shown and examples of the research work will be demonstrated. The conversion of a multi-ion, variable energy accelerator to a dedicated accelerator for eye tumour therapy will be discussed. ION BEAM LABORATORY ISL