Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for tuning a charged particle beam path of a charged particle beam system used to treat a tumor of a patient, comprising the steps of: positioning a two-dimensional charged particle detector in a beam line downstream from a magnet pair; operating windings of the magnet pair at a first power level to generate a first magnetic field; measuring a beam position with the first two-dimensional charged particle detector; adjusting a correction magnetic field by driving voltage of a correction coil at a second power level, the second power level less than five percent of the first power level, where the first magnetic field and the correction magnetic field combine to yield an operational magnetic field; and the steps of measuring and adjusting the correction magnetic field changing the operational magnetic field to adjust a measured beam position toward a target beam position.

Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for tuning a charged particle beam path of a charged particle beam system used to treat a tumor of a patient, comprising the steps of: positioning a two-dimensional charged particle detector in a beam line downstream from a magnet pair; operating windings of the magnet pair at a first power level to generate a first magnetic field; measuring a beam position with the first two-dimensional charged particle detector; adjusting a correction magnetic field by driving voltage of a correction coil at a second power level, the second power level less than five percent of the first power level, where the first magnetic field and the correction magnetic field combine to yield an operational magnetic field; and the steps of measuring and adjusting the correction magnetic field changing the operational magnetic field to adjust a measured beam position toward a target beam position.

Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for aligning a charged particle beam path for treating a tumor of a patient, comprising: a cancer therapy system comprising the charged particle beam path sequentially passing: from an injector, through a synchrotron, along a beam transport line, and through a nozzle; a first two-dimensional detector configured to measure a beam state of positively charged particles; and an integrated intelligent system configured to classify the beam state into a set of beam shape factors, the integrated intelligent system configured to correct the beam shape through application of a condition-action rule: (1) adjusting a first voltage delivered to a first magnet positioned in the beam line prior to the first two-dimensional detector and (2) altering the beam shape through application of a second voltage to a second magnet position in the beam line adjacent to the first magnet.

Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for tuning a charged particle beam path of a charged particle beam system used to treat a tumor of a patient, comprising the steps of: positioning a two-dimensional charged particle detector in a beam line downstream from a magnet pair; operating windings of the magnet pair at a first power level to generate a first magnetic field; measuring a beam position with the first two-dimensional charged particle detector; adjusting a correction magnetic field by driving voltage of a correction coil at a second power level, the second power level less than five percent of the first power level, where the first magnetic field and the correction magnetic field combine to yield an operational magnetic field; and the steps of measuring and adjusting the correction magnetic field changing the operational magnetic field to adjust a measured beam position toward a target beam position.

Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for directing a positively charged particle beam to a tumor of a patient, comprising the steps of: (1) transporting the positively charged particle beam sequentially from a synchrotron, through a beam transport line, and through a nozzle system toward the tumor, the beam transport line comprising a rotatable beamline section; (2) pre-rotating the positively charged particle beam using a solenoid, the solenoid positioned in the beam transport line between the synchrotron and the rotatable beamline section; and (3) rotating the rotatable beamline section, where the step of pre-rotating maintains a geometric relationship between a radial cross-section of the positively charged particle beam and magnet surfaces in the rotatable beamline section as a function of rotation of the rotatable beamline section, which reduces otherwise changed dispersive forces as the rotatable beamline is positioned in separate areas about the patient.