Patent ID: 8229072

Claim:
An X-ray apparatus as part of a particle beam cancer therapy system, said particle beam cancer therapy system irradiating a tumor of a patient with a charged particle beam during use, said apparatus comprising: an electron generating cathode; a control electrode; a plurality of accelerating electrodes; a magnetic lens; a quadrupole magnet, all of said control electrode, said accelerating electrodes, said magnetic lens, and said quadrupole magnet located between said cathode and an X-ray generating anode, said control electrode, said accelerating electrodes, said magnetic lens, and said quadrupole magnet combining to form a substantially parallel electron beam with an electron beam cross-sectional area, wherein a cross-sectional area of said cathode is greater than about six times that of the electron beam cross-sectional area; and a synchrotron configured to accelerate the charged particle beam, wherein said anode comprises a location within about forty millimeters of the charged particle beam, wherein the tumor is targeted using X-ray images collected using X-rays from said X-ray generating anode, wherein the tumor is treated using the charged particle beam, and wherein the X-rays run substantially in parallel with the charged particle beam.