Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a magnet to affect a direction of the particle beam to scan the particle beam across at least part of an irradiation target; andscattering material that is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target;wherein scanning performed by the particle therapy system is spot scanning;wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location; andwherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tenths of a second. 2. The particle therapy system of claim 1, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of the scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 3. The particle therapy system of claim 1, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 4. The particle therapy system of claim 1, wherein the scattering material comprises multiple scatterers, each of the multiple scatterers being movable into, or out of, a path of the particle beam. 5. The particle therapy system of claim 4, wherein only one of the multiple scatterers at a time is movable into the path of the particle beam. 6. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a magnet to affect a direction of the particle beam to scan the particle beam across at least part of an irradiation target; andscattering material that is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target;wherein the scattering material comprises piezoelectric material that is responsive to an applied voltage to increase or to decrease in thickness. 7. The particle therapy system of claim 1, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam during a course of treatment of the irradiation target. 8. The particle therapy system of claim 1, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam in between times of treatment of the irradiation target. 9. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a magnet to affect a direction of the particle beam to scan the particle beam across at least part of an irradiation target; andscattering material that is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target;wherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tens of milliseconds. 10. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a scanning system to receive the particle beam from the synchrocyclotron and to perform spot scanning of at least part of an irradiation target with the particle beam, the scanning system being controllable to change a spot size of the particle beam; anda gantry on which the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system are mounted, the gantry being configured to move the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system around the irradiation target;wherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tenths of a second. 11. The particle therapy system of claim 10, wherein the scanning system comprises:structures to move the particle beam output from the synchrocyclotron in three-dimensions relative to the irradiation target; andscattering material, among the structures, that is configurable to change the spot size of the particle beam. 12. The particle therapy system of claim 11, wherein the scattering material comprises multiple scatterers, each of the multiple scatterers being movable into, or out of, a path of the particle beam. 13. The particle therapy system of claim 12, wherein only one of the multiple scatterers at a time is movable into the path of the particle beam. 14. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a scanning system to receive the particle beam from the synchrocyclotron and to perform spot scanning of at least part of an irradiation target with the particle beam, the scanning system being controllable to change a spot size of the particle beam; anda gantry on which the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system are mounted, the gantry being configured to move the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system around the irradiation target;wherein the scanning system comprises:structures to move the particle beam output from the synchrocyclotron in three-dimensions relative to the irradiation target; andscattering material, among the structures, that is configurable to change the spot size of the particle beam; andwherein the scattering material comprises piezoelectric material that is responsive to an applied voltage or to increase or to decrease in thickness. 15. The particle therapy system of claim 11, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change the spot size of the particle beam during a course of treatment of the irradiation target. 16. The particle therapy system of claim 11, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change the spot size of the particle beam in between times of treatment of the irradiation target. 17. The particle therapy system of claim 10, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 18. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a scanning system to receive the particle beam from the synchrocyclotron and to perform spot scanning of at least part of an irradiation target with the particle beam, the scanning system being controllable to change a spot size of the particle beam; anda gantry on which the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system are mounted, the gantry being configured to move the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system around the irradiation target;wherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tens of milliseconds. 19. The particle therapy system of claim 6, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of the scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 20. The particle therapy system of claim 6, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 21. The particle therapy system of claim 6, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 22. The particle therapy system of claim 9, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of the scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 23. The particle therapy system of claim 9, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 24. The particle therapy system of claim 9, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 25. The particle therapy system of claim 10, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 26. The particle therapy system of claim 10, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 27. The particle therapy system of claim 10, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 28. The particle therapy system of claim 14, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of the scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 29. The particle therapy system of claim 14, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 30. The particle therapy system of claim 14, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 31. The particle therapy system of claim 18, further comprising:a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron. 32. The particle therapy system of claim 18, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20 T. 33. The particle therapy system of claim 18, wherein the spot size is changeable from scan-location to scan-location. 34. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a magnet to affect a direction of the particle beam to scan the particle beam across at least part of an irradiation target;scattering material that is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target; anda degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target, the degrader being down-beam of the scattering material relative to the synchrocyclotron;wherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tenths of a second or less. 35. The particle therapy system of claim 34, wherein the synchrocyclotron comprises:a voltage source to provide a radio frequency (RF) voltage to a cavity to accelerate particles from a plasma column, the cavity having a magnetic field causing particles accelerated from the plasma column to move orbitally within the cavity;an extraction channel to receive the particles accelerated from the plasma column and to output the received particles from the cavity in the particle beam; anda regenerator to provide a magnetic field bump within the cavity to thereby change successive orbits of the particles accelerated from the plasma column so that, eventually, particles output to the extraction channel;wherein the magnetic field is between 4 Tesla (T) and 20T. 36. The particle therapy system of claim 34, wherein the scattering material comprises multiple scatterers, each of the multiple scatterers being movable into, or out of, a path of the particle beam. 37. The particle therapy system of claim 36, wherein only one of the multiple scatterers at a time is movable into the path of the particle beam. 38. The particle therapy system of claim 34, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam during a course of treatment of the irradiation target. 39. The particle therapy system of claim 34, wherein the scattering material is configurable to change a spot size of the particle beam in between times of treatment of the irradiation target. 40. A particle therapy system comprising:a synchrocyclotron to output a particle beam;a scanning system to receive the particle beam from the synchrocyclotron and to perform spot scanning of at least part of an irradiation target with the particle beam, the scanning system being controllable to change a spot size of the particle beam; anda gantry on which the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system are mounted, the gantry being configured to move the synchrocyclotron and at least part of the scanning system around the irradiation target;a degrader to change an energy of the particle beam prior to the particle beam reaching the irradiation target;wherein the spot size is changeable on a time scale on the order of tenths of a second.