COOLING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

摘要

An ion therapy system comprises a particle accelerator (1) mounted on a rotatable gantry (2). The particle accelerator includes a superconducting coil (17) which rotates about its axis as the particle accelerator rotates about the gantry axis in use to direct an output beam towards a target from different directions. The particle accelerator is rotatable through (180) degrees to move the beam through a corresponding arc. The particle accelerator includes cooling system arranged to cool the coil as the coil rotates. The superconducting coil (17) is mounted in a coil support (25). The coil is surrounded by a cryogen chamber (32) which is located radially outwardly from the coil (17) on the other side of the support (25). The cryogen chamber is in fluid communication with a cryogen recondensing unit (29) whereby vaporized cryogen may flow from the cryogen chamber (32) to the cryogen recondensing unit (29) to be recondensed in use before returning to the cryogen chamber. Thermally conductive means (40) is arranged to facilitate heat transfer from the superconducting coil (17) to the cryogen chamber (32) to vaporize cryogen contained therein in use and thereby remove heat from the coil