Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A system for particle beam therapy, the system comprising, as seen in a flow direction of a particle beam:a) an adjustable gantry for beam delivery to a target volume, said gantry including:a1) a beam coupling section for an incoming particle beam, the incoming particle beam being oriented substantially horizontally and defining a horizontal plane;a2) a first beam bending section having a plurality of beam deflection and/or focusing magnets, said first beam bending section being configured to either bend the particle beam with an adjustable angle into a vertical plane, or with 90 degrees in the horizontal plane, but with mechanical rotatability about an adjustable angle along an axis of the incoming particle beam;a3) a beam transport section disposed to receive the particle beam leaving said first beam bending section and guiding the particle beam to a second beam bending section;a4) said second beam bending section having a plurality of beam deflection magnets and/or beam focusing magnets; anda5) a beam nozzle formed with a window for an exit of the particle beam; andb) a patient support mounted for rotation and/or shifting in the horizontal plane or in a plane parallel to the horizontal plane;c) a tilting mechanism supporting said gantry to enable said gantry to be tilted vertically by a tilting angle Φ1, where Φ1ε[−90°; +90°], about a pivot disposed in a region of said first beam bending section; andd) a rotation mechanism disposed to enable said second beam bending section and said beam nozzle to rotate by an angle Φ2, where Φ2ε[−180°; +180°], around a direction given by the tilting angle Φ1. 2. The system according to claim 1, comprising the following basic settings:a) maximum of Φ1 and Φ2=0°, leading to a particle beam pointing from the vertical direction downwards to said patient support;b) minimum of Φ1 and Φ2=180°, leading to a particle beam pointing from the vertical direction upwards to said patient support;c) Φ1=0°and Φ2=−90°, leading to a particle beam pointing in the horizontal direction from one side to said patient support; andd) Φ1=0°and Φ2=+90°, leading to a particle beam pointing in the horizontal direction from an opposite side to said patient support. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said tilting mechanism comprises a telescope arm. 4. The system according to claim 1 wherein said beam transport section comprises a telescope section. 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said beam transport section is adjustable in length in order to compensate for a change in a horizontal component of said gantry due to the tilting angle Φ1. 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said first beam bending section comprises a set of magnets in order to deflect the incoming beam into a direction given by the tilting angle Φ1. 7. The system according to claim 1, which comprises a beam spreading system configured to spread the beam in a lateral direction, which is perpendicular to a direction of the beam leaving said second bending section. 8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said beam spreading system comprises a scattering system configured to increase a beam diameter and/or a system of fast deflection magnets configured to scan the beam in the transversal direction. 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said beam spreading is collated upstream of or downstream of said second bending section in the flow direction of the beam. 10. The system according to claim 1, wherein a treatment angle of the particle beam at the isocenter with respect to a patient orientation is determined by a combination of the tilting angle Φ1, the angle Φ2, and an orientation of the patient support.