Features of the Proton Therapy System

Reliable Technology with Long Term Experiences

Sumitomo has been working on the design and manufacturing of accelerators since the early 1970s. With those technologies and experiences, a cyclotron for proton therapy was developed and the first proton therapy system was delivered to National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCH-E) in 1997. The proton therapy facility in NCCH-E started operation as the 1st hospital-based proton facility (2nd in the world, following Loma Linda University in USA) and has been in stable operation for more than 20 years. Additionally, the proton therapy system was granted 510(k) clearance by the US FDA in 2013.

Continuous and High Dose Rate Beam from Cyclotron

Sumitomo cyclotron generates continuous and high dose rate beam (Max 15Gy/min) which is preferable for the following;

1) Shorten the each treatment time, especially for moving target such as lung, liver… etc.
2) High Adaptability for Line Scanning Technology
3) Possibility to decrease fraction number

Compact and Flexible Layout

Rotating gantry used to dominate the large amount of space in a proton therapy facility.
Short length compact gantry with 360 degrees rotation offers significant space saving and flexible layout with vertical or horizontal configuration in accordance with conditions of the planned area and operation.

• Horizontal configuration type (1-4 rooms) 　※Model with future gantry expansion is available
• Vertical configuration type (1-2 rooms)

Line Scanning

Pencil beam scanning (PBS) delivers narrow proton beams to the targeted cancer tissue conforming to the shape of tumor and enables complex tumors to be irradiated precisely, while concentrating high dose and minimizing side effects for surrounding healthy tissues. In comparison with the conventional broad beam irradiation, preparation prior to treatment is easier and the consumable cost for patient’s specific compensators and collimators can be decreased by PBS. Line scanning technology (“Line Scanning”), which is one of the PBS technologies and SHI’s original one, irradiates proton beams continuously in stable beam current for each layer with change of scanning speed. Irradiation time by Line Scanning is shorter than that by spot scanning irradiation which irradiates proton beams intermittently.

The world’s first patient treatment with Line Scanning was started in National Cancer Center Hospital East (Kashiwa, Japan) in October, 2015. Then, number of Line Scanning treatment in our facilities in Japan, Taiwan and Korea have been increasing rapidly and IMPT (Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy) has been utilized in those facilities.

Image Guide Technologies for Precise Treatment

Accurate patient positioning is carried out by 6-axis robotic couch and orthogonal X-ray DR System which is high range of movement and high accurate locating before irradiation. . Cone Beam CT image can be acquired with X-ray DR system by rotating gantry. In addition, we can provide the patient positioning system from 3D image by setting up the On-rail CT device and sharing bed for diagnosis and treatment. (Option)