Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A system to control characteristics of a proton beam emitted from a nozzle of a proton treatment system, comprising:a plurality of beam modifying members to define a characteristic of an emitted proton beam; anda clamping member configured to be mounted to the nozzle, the clamping member having a plurality of receiving portions disposed on the clamping member to respectively receive one of the plurality of beam modifying members therein, the plurality of receiving portions being configured to selectively and interchangeably receive multiple ones of the plurality of beam modifying members within the clamping member when the clamping member is mounted to the nozzle. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple ones of the beam modifying members are configured as a first set of plates having a first size, and the receiving portions include a plurality of slots spaced apart from one another on opposing surfaces of the clamping member to respectively receive opposing ends of each first plate. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the clamping member includes one or more detector units to detect the presence of one or more of the beam modifying members within the clamping member. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the beam modifying members includes a second clamping member having at least one receiving portion smaller than the receiving portions of the first clamping member to respectively receive one or more other beam modifying members therein. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more other beam modifying members are configured as a second set of plates smaller than the first set of plates, and the receiving portions of the second clamping member include a plurality of slots spaced apart from one another on opposing surfaces of the second clamping member to receive opposing ends of each second plate. 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the second clamping member includes one or more detector units to detect the presence of at least one beam modifying member within the second clamping member. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the clamping member is configured to be mounted adjacent to a proton delivery nozzle aperture of the proton treatment system and downstream from the nozzle aperture. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of beam modifying members include one or more of a place-holder plate, aperture plate, collimator plate, compensator plate, degrader plate, or combinations thereof, and wherein the place-holder plate is configured to not significantly modify the proton beam, the aperture plate is configured to define a cross sectional area of the proton beam, the collimator plate is configured to align the proton beam, the compensator plate is configured to affect a Bragg peak distance of the proton beam, and the degrader plate is configured to reduce an intensity of the proton beam. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple ones of the beam modifying members are stacked together side by side within the clamping member. 10. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of beam modifying members include annular shielding. 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:a compensator integrated with at least one beam modifying member. 12. The system of claim 3, further comprising:an output unit in communication with the one or more detector units to output presence information of at least one of the beam modifying members within the clamping member. 13. The system of claim 6, further comprising:an output unit in communication with the one or more detector units to output presence information of at least one of the beam modifying members within the clamping member. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of beam modifying members include a handle portion to facilitate gripping of the beam modifying members by an operator of the proton treatment system. 15. The system of claim 5, wherein the proton treatment system includes a snout, and the plurality of beam modifying units can be interchanged in the clamping members without removing the snout from the proton treatment system. 16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a locking member to locate and secure the multiple ones of the beam modifying members within the clamping member relative to the nozzle, the locking member configured to cooperate with each of the plurality of receiving portions of the clamping member. 17. A method of controlling characteristics of a proton beam emitted from a nozzle of a proton treatment system, comprising:mounting a clamping member to a nozzle of a proton treatment system, the clamping member configured to be mounted to the nozzle, the clamping member having a plurality of slotted receiving portions disposed on the clamping member to respectively receive one of the plurality of beam modifying members therein, the plurality of receiving portions being configured to selectively and interchangeably receive multiple ones of the plurality of beam modifying members within the clamping member when the clamping member is mounted to the nozzle; andinterchangeably sliding one or more of the plurality of beam modifying members into a respective receiving portion, the one or more beam modifying members being selected to define a characteristic of a proton beam emitted from the nozzle,wherein the one or more beam modifying members are configured as a first set of plates having a first size, and the receiving portions include a plurality of slots spaced apart from one another on opposing surfaces of the clamping member to receive opposing ends of each first plate, andwherein at least one of the beam modifying members includes a second clamping member having at least one receiving portion smaller than the receiving portions of the first clamping member to respectively receive one or more other beam modifying members therein. 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:detecting the presence of at least one beam modifying member within the clamping members; andoutputting presence information of the least one beam modifying unit to an output unit of the proton treatment system.