HEAVY PARTICLE ION GENERATOR FOR HEAVY PARTICLE BEAM THERAPY

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heavy particle ion generator for heavy particle beam therapy which can generate required number of heavy particle ions in a steady manner for a heavy particle beam therapy device.

SOLUTION: A heavy particle ion generator for heavy particle beam therapy includes: a material for producing plasma by irradiation of laser light; a container for housing the material; a laser source for generating laser light; light focusing means for focusing the laser light such that a focus of the laser light is formed on the material; electrode means for drawing heavy particle ions out of the plasma produced from the material by Coulomb force and delivering the ions outside of the container; observation means for observing the plasma produced from the material and determining a focus diameter of the laser light based on a plasma diameter in the region contacting the material; position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the material or the position of the light focusing means; a control section for controlling position adjustment of the material performed by the position adjusting means such that the focus diameter determined by the observation means becomes equal to a predetermined reference focus diameter.

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