Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for extracting ions, comprising the steps of:providing ions with an ion source, said ion source comprising:an electron resonance cyclotron ion source, said electron resonance cyclotron generating the ions, the ions comprising at least one of:cations; andanions;providing a triode extraction system, comprising:said ion source maintained at a first potential;an extraction electrode maintained at a third potential differing from said first potential; anda gating electrode positioned between said ion source and said extraction electrode;alternatingly (1) suppressing extraction of the ions from said ion source and (2) extracting a set of ions from said ion source through changing a second potential of said gating electrode from proximate the first potential to a value between the first potential and the third potential, said step of alternatingly (1) suppressing extraction of the ions from said ion source and (2) extracting a set of ions from said ion source further comprising the step of:intermittently oscillating the second potential from +30±10 kV to 0±5 kV. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:maintaining the first potential at a first absolute value greater than 20 kV;maintaining the third potential at 0±10 kV; andmaintaining the second potential at a second absolute value at least 0.1 kV larger than the first potential, said step of maintaining the second potential functioning to suppress extraction of the ions from said ion source. 3. The method of claim 1, said cations comprising at least one of:protons;C4+; andC6+. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the sequential steps of:focusing the cations with a radio-frequency quadrupole;accelerating the cations with a synchrotron; andtreating a tumor of a patient with the cations. 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of:imaging a tumor of a patient with the cations, said step of imaging comprising a step of forming a three-dimensional tomographic image of the tumor. 6. A method for extracting ions, comprising the steps of:providing ions with an ion source, said ion source comprising:an electron resonance cyclotron ion source, said electron resonance cyclotron generating the ions, the ions comprising at least one of:cations; andanions;providing a triode extraction system, comprising:said ion source maintained at a first potential;an extraction electrode maintained at a third potential differing from said first potential; anda gating electrode positioned between said ion source and said extraction electrode;alternatingly (1) suppressing extraction of the ions from said ion source and (2) extracting a set of ions from said ion source through changing a second potential of said gating electrode from proximate the first potential to a value between the first potential and the third potential;imaging a tumor with a first two-dimensional imaging system using the ions extracted from said ion source; andimaging the tumor with a second two-dimensional imaging system using X-rays, said steps of imaging the tumor with said first two-dimensional imaging system and imaging the tumor with said second two-dimensional imaging system overlapping in time,said cations comprising at least one of:protons;C4+; andC6+. 7. The method of claim 1, said ion source comprising at least one of:an electron resonance cyclotron ion source;a dual plasmatron ion source;an indirectly heated cathode ion source;a Freeman type ion source; anda Bernas type ion source. 8. An apparatus for extracting ions, comprising:an ion source configured to provide the ions,a triode extraction system, comprising:said ion source maintained at a first potential during use;an extraction electrode maintained at a third potential, during use, differing from said first potential; anda gating electrode positioned between said ion source and said extraction electrode;an electrical ground connection to said extraction electrode;a first power supply configured to maintain the first potential of said ion source at 30±20 kV; andsecond power supply configured to cycle the second potential between the first potential and the third potential,wherein a second potential of said gating electrode during use is alternatingly (1) suppressing extraction of the ions from said ion source and (2) extracting a set of ions from said ion source through changing the second potential of said gating electrode from proximate the first potential to a value between the first potential and the third potential. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, said ion source comprising at least one of:an electron resonance cyclotron ion source;a dual plasmatron ion source;an indirectly heated cathode ion source;a Freeman type ion source; anda Bernas type ion source. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising an ion beam path, comprising:a path from said electron resonance cyclotron ion source, through a synchrotron and into a position above a patient positioning support. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, the ion beam path further comprising,a section from the position above said patient positioning support into a scintillation plate of a tomographic imaging system. 12. A system of extracting ions, comprising the step of:providing ions with an ion source;providing a triode extraction system, comprising:said ion source maintained at a first potential;an extraction electrode maintained at a third potential differing from said first potential; anda gating electrode positioned between said ion source and said extraction electrode; andat alternating times:suppressing extraction of the ions from said ion source using a first state of an electric field between said ion source and said gating electrode at a second potential of +30±10 kV; andextracting a set of ions from said ion source through using a second state of the electric field by changing the second potential of said gating electrode from proximate the first potential to a value of: (1) 0±5 kV and (2) between the first potential and the third potential.