Abstract: The invention concerns a method for treating a target volume with a particle beam, in particular a proton beam, which consists in generating said particle beam using an accelerator and in producing from said beam a narrow spot directed towards the target volume, characterized in that said spot sweeping speed and the particle beam intensity are simultaneously varied.

Abstract: The present inventions is related to a superconducting or non-superconducting isochronous sector-focused cyclotron, comprising an electromagnet with an upper pole and a lower pole that constitute the magnetic circuit, the poles being made of at least three pair of sectors (3,4) called “hills” where the vertical gap between said sectors is small, these hill-sectors being separated by sector-formed spaces called “valleys” (5) where the vertical gap is large, said cyclotron being energized by at least one pair of main coils (6), characterised in that at least one pair of upper and lower hills is significantly longer than the remaining pair of hill sectors in order to have at least one pair of extended hill sectors (3) and at least one pair of non-extended hill sectors (4) in that a groove (7) or a “plateau” (7′) which follows the shape of the extracted orbit is present in said pair of extended hill sectors (3) in order to produce a dip (200) in the magnetic field.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method, system and shoe for determining the fit of a shoe from outside the shoe wherein the shoe has an outsole that has a reference gauge for placing a person's heel and a reference mark indicating how far a person's toes should extend so that the shoe would fit. The system is adaptable so a decal may be used or a separate foot measurement guide such as a hang tag may be attached to a shoe where the visual fit guide depicted on the hang tag corresponds to the size of the shoe to which it is applied. The hang tag may be printed on both sides to correspond to both a left and right foot.

Abstract: A system for irradiating articles is disclosed. The system has multiple beam paths and is capable of irradiating articles with x-rays or electron beams (e-beams). The system is comprised of a single radiation source producing multiple beam paths. At least one of the beam paths is configured to irradiate articles with x-rays and at least one other beam path is configured to irradiate articles with e-beams. The beam paths are each positioned to scan product carried on conveyors. The x-ray beam paths and e-beam have separate conveyor systems that operates independently from each other.

Abstract: The present invention is related to an apparatus and method for irradiating product packages (1). One measures the effective dimension of a product package (1), one processes a product package (1) having everywhere an effective thickness below a predefined threshold with an e-beam source (17), and other packages with either a gas sterilisant device or an X-ray or gamma source. Packages for treating with the X-ray or gamma source are grouped in layers and stacked, in order to optimise the throughput of the apparatus.

Abstract: A device for varying the energy of a particle beam extracted from a fixed-energy particle accelerator includes a block of energy degrading material positioned in the path of the particle beam. The block of energy degrading material is preferably in the form of a ring arranged on a wheel. The ring is of a staircase configuration, having discrete steps defining a thickness between parallel entry and exit faces. According to one aspect of the invention, the block is configured so that the particle beam energy variation reaches a maximum at the edges of each step. This upper limit is also the lower limit of the next step. Thus, continuous energy variation is possible despite the fact that the thickness of the block varies in discrete steps.

Abstract: A method for extracting a charged particle beam out of an isochronous cyclotron (1) comprising an electromagnet forming a magnetic circuit that includes at least a number of sectors (3, 3') known as "hills" where the air-gap is reduced, and separated by sector-shaped spaces (4) known as "valleys" where the air-gap is larger. According to the extraction method, the particle beam is extracted without using an extraction device as the magnetic field has a special arrangement produced by designing the electromagnet air-gap at the "hills" (3, 3') of the isochronous cyclotron in such a way that the aspect ratio between the electromagnet air-gap at the "hills" in the region of the maximum radius, and the radius gain per turn of the particles accelerated by the cyclotron at said radius is less than 20.