5.

ACCELERATORI DE PARTICULE:
Betatronul. Ciclotronul. Microtronul.
Numerous types of accelerator have been built for basic research in nuclear and high
energy physics, and most of them have been modified for atleast some limited use in
radiotherapy. Irrespective of the accelerator type, two basic conditions must be met for particle
acceleration:
The particle to be accelerated must be charged;
An electric field must be provided in the direction of particle acceleration.
The various types of accelerator differ in the way they produce the accelerating electric
field and in how the field acts on the particles to be accelerated. As far as the accelerating
electric field is concerned there are two main classes of accelerator: electrostatic and cyclic.
In electrostatic accelerators the particles are accelerated by applying an electrostatic
electric field through a voltage difference, constant in time, whose value fies the value
of the final !inetic energy of the particle. "ince the electrostatic fields are conservative,
the !inetic energy that the particle can gain depends only on the point of departure and
point of arrival and hence cannot be larger than the potential energy correspondingto the
maimum voltage drop eisting in the machine. The energy that an electrostatic
accelerator can reach is limited by the discharges that occur between the high voltage
terminal and the walls of the accelerator chamber when the voltage drop eceeds a certain
critical value #typically $ %&'.
The electric fields used in cyclic accelerators are variable and nonconservative,
associated with a variable magnetic field and resulting in some close paths along which
the !inetic energy gained by the particle differs from (ero. If the particle is made to
follow such a closed path many times over, one obtains a process of gradual acceleration
that is not limited to the maimum voltage drop eisting in the accelerator. Thus the final
!inetic energy of the particle is obtained by submitting the charged particle to the same,
relatively small, potential difference a large number of times, each cycle adding a small
amount of energy to the !inetic energy of the particle.
)amples of electrostatic accelerators used in medicine are superficial and orthovoltage
* ray tubes and neutron generators. The best !nown eample of a cyclic accelerator is the linac;
other eamples are microtrons, betatrons and cyclotrons.
Betatron
The betatron was developed in $+,- by ../. 0erst as a cyclic electron accelerator for basic
physics research; however, its potential for use in radiotherapy was reali(ed soon after.
The machine consists of a magnet fed by an alternating current of fre1uency between 2-
and 3-- 4(. The electrons are made to circulate in a toroidal #doughnut shaped' vacuum
chamber that is placed into the gap between two magnet poles. A schematic diagram of a
betatron is given in 5ig. 2.6#a'.
7onceptually, the betatron may be considered an analogue of a transformer:the primary
current is the alternating current eciting the magnet and the secondary current is the
electron current circulating in the vacuum chamber #doughnut'.
The electrons are accelerated by the electric field induced in the doughnut shape by the
changing magnetic flu in the magnet; they are !ept in a circular orbit by the magnetic
field present.
In the $+2-s betatrons played an important role in megavoltage radiotherapy. 4owever,
the development of linacs pushed them into oblivion because of the numerous advantages
offered by linacs over betatrons, such as: much higher beam output #up to $- 8y9min for
linacs versus $ 8y9min for betatrons'; larger field si(e; full isocentric mounting; more
compact design; and 1uieter operation.
The operation of the betatron is based on the principle that an electron in a changing
magnetic field eperiences acceleration in a circular orbit. 5igure ,.$- shows a schematic
drawing of the machine. The accelerating tube is shaped li!e a hollow doughnut and is placed
between the poles of an alternating current magnet. A pulse ofelectrons is introduced into this
evacuated doughnut by an in:ector at the instant that the alternating current cycle begins. As the
magnetic field rises, the electrons eperience acceleration continuously and spin with increasing
velocity around the tube. ;y the end of the first 1uarrer cycle of the alternating magnetic field,
the electrons have made several thousand revolutions and achieved maimum energy. At this
instant or earlier, depending on the energy desired, the electrons are made to spiral out of the
orbit by an additional attractive force. The high<energy electrons then stri!e a target to produce
<rays or a scattering foil to produce a broad beam of electrons.
;etatrons were first used for radiotherapy in the early $+2-s. They preceded the
introduction of linear accelerators by a few years. Although the betatrons can provide <ray and
electron therapy beams over a wide range of energies, from less than = to more than ,- %e&,
they are inherently low<electron<beam current devices. The <ray dose rates and field si(e
capabilities of medical betatrons are low compared with medical linacs and even modern cobalt
units. 4owever, in the electron therapy mode, the beam current is ade1uate to provide a high
dose rate. The reason for this difference between <ray and electron dose rates is that the <ray
production via bremsstrahlung as well as beam flattening re1uires a much larger primary electron
beam current #about $,--- times' than that re1uired for the electron therapy beam.
The availability of medium energy linacs with high <ray does rates, large field si(es, and
electron therapy energies up to 3- %e& has given the linacs a considerable edge in popularity
over the betatrons. %oreover, many radiation therapists regard the small field si(e and dose rate
capabilities of the betatron as serious disadvantages to the general use of he device. Thus a
significant increase in betatron installations in this country, paralleling medical linacs, seems
unli!ely.
Cyclotron
The cyclotron was developed in $+6- by ).>. ?awrence for acceleration of ions to a !inetic
energy of a few megaelectronvolts. Initially, the cyclotron was used for basic nuclear physics
research, but later on found important medical uses in the production of radioisotopes for nuclear
medicine as well as in the production of proton and neutron beams for radiotherapy. The recent
introduction of positron emission tomography #@)T'9computed tomography #7T' machines for
use in radiotherapy #see "ection $2.$-' has dramatically increased the importance of cyclotrons
in medicine. @)T97T machines rely on glucose labelled with positron emitting $A5 produced by
proton cyclotrons.
B In a cyclotron the particles are accelerated along a spiral tra:ectory guided inside two
evacuated half<cylindrical electrodes #referred to as dees because of their . shaped form'
by a uniform magnetic field #$ T' that is produced between the pole pieces of a large
magnet. 5igure 2.6#b' is a diagram of a cyclotron.
B A radiofre1uency #C5' voltage with a constant fre1uency between $- and 6- %4( is
applied between the two electrodes and the charged particle is accelerated while crossing
the gap between the two electrodes.
B Inside the electrodes there is no electric field and the particle drifts under the influence
of the magnetic field in a semicircular orbit with a constant speed until it crosses the gap
again. If, in the meantime, the electric field has reversed its direction, the particle will
again be accelerated across the gap, gain a small amount of energy and drift in the other
electrode along a semicircle of a larger radius than the former one, resulting in a spiral
orbit and a gradual increase in !inetic energy after a large number of gap crossings.
The cyclotron is a charged particle accelerator, mainly used for nuclear physics research.
In radiation therapy, these machines have been used as a source of high<energy protons for
proton beam therapy. %ore recently, the cyclotrons have been adopted for generating neutron
beams. In the latter case, the deuterons #i4D' are accelerated to high energies and then made to
stri!e a suitable target to produce neutrons by nuclear reactions. >ne such reaction occurs when a
beam of deuterons, accelerated to a high energy #<$2 to 2- %e&', stri!es a target of low atomic
number, such as beryllium. Neutrons.are produced by a process called stripping #section 3.A..'.
Another important use of the cyclotron in medicine is as a particle accelerator for the production
of certain radionuclides.
A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of cyclotron operation is shown in 5ig.
,.$3. The machine consists essentially of a short metallic cylinder divided into two sections,
usually referred to as D s. These .s are highly evacuated and placed between the poles of a
direct current magnet #not shown', producing a constant magnetic field. An alternating potential
is applied between the two .s. @ositively charged particles such as protons or deuterons are
in:ected into the chamber at the center of the two .s. Ender the action of the magnetic field, the
particles travel in a circular orbit. The fre1uency of the alternating potential is ad:usted so that as
the particle passes from one . to the other, it is accelerated by the electric field of the right
polarity. /ith each pass between the .s, the particle receives an increment of energy and the
radius of its orbit increases. Thus, by ma!ing many revolutions, the particle such as a deuteron
achieves !inetic energy as high as 6- %e&.
There is a limit to the energy that a particle can attain by the above process. According to
the theory of relativity, as the particle reaches high velocity #in the relativistic range', further
acceleration causes the particle to gain in mass. This tends to slow down the particle, which can
then get out of step with the fre1uency of the alternating potential applied to the .s. This
problem has been solved in the synchrotrons where the fre1uency of the potential is ad:usted to
compensate for the decrease in particle velocity.
Microtron
The microtron is an electron accelerator that combines the features of a linac with a cyclotron.
The concept of the microtron was developed by &.I. &e!sler in $+,,, and the machine is used in
modern radiotherapy, albeit to a much smaller etent than linacs.
Two types of microtron have been developed: circular and racetrac!.
In the circular microtron the electron gains energy from a microwave resonant cavity and
describes circular orbits of increasing radius in a uniform magnetic field. To !eep the
particle in phase with the microwave power, the cavity voltage, fre1uency and magnetic
field are ad:usted in such a way that after each passage through the cavity the electrons
gain an energy increment, resulting in an increase in the transit time in themagnetic field
e1ual to an integral number of microwave cycles.
In the racetrac! microtron the magnet is split into two . shaped pole pieces that are
separated to provide greater fleibility in achieving efficient electron in:ection and higher
energy gain per orbit through the use of multicavity accelerating structures similar to
those used in linacs. The electron orbits consist of two semicircular and two straight
sections.
The microtron is an electron accelerator that combines the principles of both the
linear accelerator and the cyclotron #section ,.='. In the microtron, the electrons are
accelerated
by the oscillating electric field ofone or more microwave cavities #5ig. ,.$ lA,;'. A
magnetic field forces the electrons to move in a circular orbit and return to the cavity. As
the electrons receive higher and higher energy by repeated passes through the cavity, they
describe orbits of increasing radius in the magnetic field. The cavity voltage, fre1uency,
and magnetic field are so ad:usted that the electrons arrive each time in the correct phase
at the cavity. ;ecause the electrons travel with an approimately constant velocity
#almost the speed of light', the above condition can be maintained if the path length of
the orbits increases with one microwave wavelength per revolution. The microwave
power source is either a !lystron or a magnetron.
.
5I8. ,.$$. A: "chematic diagram of a circular microtron unit. #Ceprinted with permission
from A; "canditroni, Eppsala, "weden. @rima unitate'
; )lectron orbits and acceleratingcavities in a racetrac! microtron.
The etraction of the electrons from an orbit is accomplished by a narrow
deflection tube of steel that screens the effect of the magnetic field. /hen the beam
energy is selected, the deflection tube is automatically moved to the appropriate orbit to
etract the beam.
The principal advantages of the microtron over a linear accelerator of comparable
energy are in simplicity, easy energy selection, and small beam energy spread as well as
the smaller si(e of the machine. ;ecause of the low energy spread of the accelerated
electrons and small beam emittance #product of beam diameter and divergence', the beam
transport system is greatly simplified. These characteristics have encouraged the use of a
single microtron to supply a beam to several treatment rooms.
Although the method of accelerating electrons used in the microtron was proposed as
early as in $+,, by &e!sler #2', the first microtron for radiotherapy #a $-<%e& unit' was
described by Ceistad and ;rahme #=' in $+F3. ?ater, a 33<%e& microtron #F' was
developed by A; "canditroni and installed at the Eniversity of Eme@, "weden. This
particular model #%% 33' produced two <rays beams of energy = or $- and 3$ %& and
$- electron beams of 3, 2,F, +, $$, $6, $=, $A, 3-, and 33 %e&.
The circular microtron, as described above and shown schematically in 5ig. ,.$
lA, is a bul!y structure because it re1uires a large magnetic gap to accommodate
accelerating cavity and large diameter magnetic field to accommodate the large number
of spaced orbits with limited energy gain per orbit. These constraints are removed by a
racetrac! microtron, which uses a standing wave linac structure #instead of a single
cavity' to accelerate the electrons #5ig. ,.$ $;'. The parameters of a 2-<%e& racetrac!
microtron developed at the Coyal Institute of Technology, "toc!holm, are given by
Cosander et al. #A'. A review is also provided by 0ar(mar! et al. #6'.