Particle beam gun control

Abstract

The provided systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective monitoring of particle beams. In some embodiments, a radiation gun system includes: a particle beam gun that generates a particle beam; and a gun control component that controls the gun particle beam generation characteristics, including particle beam fidelity characteristics. The particle beam characteristics can be compatible with FLASH radiotherapy. Resolution control of particle beam generation can enable dose delivery at the intra-pulse level and the micro-beam level. The micro-beam can include a separate beam per 3 GHz RF cycle within a 5 to 15 μsec pulse width. FLASH radiotherapy dose delivery can have a resolution of approximately 4.4×10 ∧ Bulk level resolution of ‑6 cGy / bulk.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application with application number 201880026441.5 and invention name “Particle Beam Gun Control”, which was filed on July 17, 2018, the international application date, and entered the Chinese national phase on October 21, 2019. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of particle beam radiation. In some embodiments, radiation systems and methods facilitate rapid and efficient generation of particle beams. Background Art

[0003] Particle beam radiation can be used in many different applications, and accurately applying the appropriate amount of radiation may be very important. Applying accurate doses of particle beam radiation is often crucial in medical treatment applications. Particle beam radiotherapy usually includes directing a particle (e.g., ionizing particles, protons, etc.) beam at a tissue region. Particles are usually associated with or include an electric charge. Particles are usually used to stop the growth or spread of target tissue cells by killing target tissue cells or reducing their cell division ability. Although particle beam radiation is usually considered to be beneficial, there are many potential side effects. Side effects may include causing unexpected damage to the DNA of healthy tissue cells. The effect of particle beam radiation mainly varies with the dose or amount of charged particles applied to cancer cells while avoiding the effects on healthy tissues.

[0004] The amount of charged particles applied to the tissue typically varies with the dose rate or "current" of the charged particles and the time that the target tissue is exposed to the radiation. Faster dose rates typically achieve shorter exposure times and can have many benefits, including a smaller chance of unrelated events affecting treatment, increased productivity, and greater convenience for patients. One approach includes an ultra-high dose rate treatment or modality known as FLASH radiotherapy. The therapeutic window associated with FLASH therapy typically achieves reduced normal tissue toxicity while maintaining cancer tissue tumor control. However, these therapeutic windows are typically very narrow or precise, and exposure outside the window can be very detrimental to otherwise healthy tissue. Developing systems and methods to deliver dose rates typically associated with FLASH therapy can be difficult and problematic. Conventional attempts using pulse drop and servo are typically too coarse and fail to provide adequate resolution and fidelity. Summary of the invention

[0005] The provided systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective monitoring of particle beams. In some embodiments, a radiation gun system includes: a particle beam gun that generates a particle beam; and a gun control component that controls the gun particle beam generation characteristics, including particle beam fidelity characteristics. The particle beam characteristics can be compatible with FLASH radiotherapy. Resolution control of particle beam generation can achieve dose delivery at the intra-pulse level and the micro-beam level. The micro-beam can include a separate beam per 3 GHz RF cycle within a 5 to 15 μsec pulse width. FLASH radiotherapy dose delivery can have a resolution of about 4.4×10 ∧ -Bunch level resolution of 6 cGy / bunch.

[0006] The radiation gun system particle beam gun may include a photocathode gun and a bending magnet, and the control component includes a laser component. The photocathode gun may be an integral part of the first short linear accelerator and may be operated to emit electrons when excited by the laser; the bending magnet may be operated to bend the electrons and provide a linear transmission path to the photocathode for the excitation laser, and the resulting bent beam is then transmitted to the second linear accelerator to accelerate the beam to its final energy. The laser component may be operated to control the "gating" or switch of the electron emission from the gun. A 5μsec pulse may correspond to about a 15K electron beam, which is gated using the gating function of the photocathode injector to control the dose output to a resolution close to the dose per beam.

[0007] An alternative approach to achieve coarser dose control fidelity than a photocathode is to utilize a gated electron gun with fast gating electronics. In some embodiments, gating can be initiated in the middle or flatter portion of the pulse drop spread associated with the transient of the pulse rise / fall time. Fast gating can be achieved via a gun driver that can be turned on and off quickly at a rate that achieves the beam gating resolution. The on / off gating can be at a rate of 333 psec.

[0008] In some embodiments, a radiation method includes: pulsing particles in a radiotherapy system at a periodic rate, wherein the pulses have characteristics compatible with ultra-high dose rates; accelerating the particles in a beam by a linear accelerator; and directing the beam emission at a target. The pulses may be in the microwave range. The pulses may have high fidelity characteristics. The particle beam characteristics may be compatible with FLASH radiotherapy. The resolution control of the particle beam generation may approach the level of microclusters.

[0009] In some embodiments, a radiotherapy system includes: a beam generation system that generates and delivers a particle beam; a nozzle that aims the beam at various locations within a subject; and a control component that receives a prescribed treatment plan and directs the execution of the prescribed treatment plan. In some exemplary implementations, the beam generation system includes: a particle beam gun that generates a particle beam; and a gun control component that controls the gun particle beam generation characteristics, including particle beam fidelity characteristics. The particle beam characteristics are compatible with FLASH radiotherapy. The beam generation system may include a linear accelerator and include components that direct the particle beam in a direction toward and into the nozzle. The nozzle may be mounted on or part of a fixed, rotating, or movable gantry so that the nozzle can move relative to a support device. The gun subsystem may enable high-resolution control of particle beam generation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings, together with the description, are incorporated into this specification and form a part thereof. They illustrate exemplary embodiments and explain the exemplary principles of the present disclosure. It is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific implementations shown herein. Unless otherwise expressly indicated, the figures are not drawn to scale.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary radiation system according to some embodiments.

[0012] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a gun subsystem according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary laser controlled gun subsystem according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 4 is a block diagram of another exemplary driver-controlled gun subsystem according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a particle beam generation method according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. Although the present invention will be described in conjunction with different embodiments, it will be understood that the present invention is not intended to be limited to the different embodiments. On the contrary, the present invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents that may be included in the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. In addition, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present invention.

[0017] The provided systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective control of proton beam generation. In some embodiments, particle beam generation control facilitates achieving ultra-high radiation dose rates with high fidelity delivery. The systems and methods are compatible with pulse width modulation. In some exemplary implementations, the timing control resolution is configured to facilitate delivery fidelity approaching intra-pulse and micro-bunch levels. Micro-bunch levels can correspond to individual beams in each RF cycle within a certain pulse width. The RF can be in the microwave range. In some exemplary implementations, the provided systems and methods can be used in FLASH radiotherapy applications. The systems and methods are also compatible with multi-field treatment methods and can enable dose delivery of each small portion / field to be effectively controlled.

[0018] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary radiation therapy system 100 according to some embodiments. The radiation therapy system 100 includes a beam generation system 104, a nozzle 107, and a control system 110. The beam generation system 104 generates and delivers a beam of particles (e.g., electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, ions, etc.). In some embodiments, multiple particles travel in substantially the same direction. In some exemplary implementations, particles traveling in substantially the same direction are included in the beam. The beam can be a nuclear beam (e.g., from carbon, helium, lithium, etc.). The beam can be considered to be a relatively well-defined beam.

[0019] In some embodiments, the beam generation system 104 includes a particle accelerator. The particle accelerator may include a linear accelerator. The system is compatible with various accelerators (e.g., continuous beam proton accelerator, isochronous cyclotron, pulsed proton accelerator, synchrocyclotron, synchrotron, etc.). In some embodiments, the accelerator is capable of relatively continuous wave output and extracting particles with specified energy. This can provide high continuous beam current for each injection or therapeutic application to achieve high dose rate. An injection is a dose delivered along a line segment through the target tissue in a relatively short period of time. The injection may be included in a scanning mode and adjusted independently (e.g., in intensity, in range, etc.) to irradiate the target tissue volume. The accelerator may be a relatively low power output cyclotron, such as a cyclotron that accelerates particles to a range of 70-300 MeV. The primary particle beam generator may be configured to associate the time of secondary photon emission with particle beam generation (e.g., to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio, etc.).

[0020] The beam generation system 104 includes a gun subsystem 115. The gun subsystem 115 enables high resolution control of particle beam generation. In some embodiments, the gun subsystem 115 is compatible with timing control of particle beam generation operations in the microwave frequency range. The gun subsystem 115 can be used in a radiation therapy system to deliver FLASH radiation therapy. Additional description of the gun subsystem is provided later in this specification.

[0021] The beam generation system 104 may include various other components (e.g., dipole magnets, bending magnets, etc.) that direct (e.g., bend, turn, guide, etc.) the beam through the system in a direction toward and into the nozzle 107. The beam generation system 104 may also include components for adjusting the energy of the beam entering the nozzle 107. In some embodiments, a quadrupole magnet set is positioned in the beam generation system 104 along the beam path. In some exemplary implementations, the radiotherapy system may include one or more multi-leaf collimators (MLCs). The MLC leaves may be independently moved back and forth by the control system 110 to dynamically shape the aperture through which the beam may pass. The aperture may block or not block portions of the beam and thereby control the beam shape and exposure time.

[0022] The nozzle 107 can be used to aim the beam at various locations within an object (e.g., a patient, target tissue, etc.). The object can be located on a support device 108 (e.g., a chair, a bed, an operating table, a workbench, etc.) in a treatment room. The nozzle 107 can be mounted on or part of a fixed, rotating or movable frame (not shown) so that the nozzle can move relative to the support device 108. The support device can also be movable. In some embodiments, the beam generation system 104 is also mounted on or part of the frame. In some other embodiments, the beam generation system is separate from the frame. In some exemplary implementations, a separate beam generation system communicates with the frame.

[0023] In some embodiments, the control system 110 receives a prescribed treatment plan and directs the execution of the prescribed treatment plan. In some exemplary implementations, the control system 110 includes a computer system having a processor, a memory, and a user interface component (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a display, etc.). The control system 110 can control parameters of the beam generation system 104, the nozzle 107, and the support device 108, including parameters such as the energy, intensity, direction, size, and shape of the beam. The control system 110 can receive data about the operation of the system 100 and control the components according to the data received. The data can be included in the prescribed treatment plan. In some embodiments, the control system 110 receives information and analyzes the performance and treatment provided by the radiotherapy system 100. The monitor component can measure and track the beam current and beam charge, which are used to infer the relationship with the dose rate and dose size accordingly. In some embodiments, the control system 110 can guide the adjustment of the radiotherapy system 100 based on the analysis of the dose and dose rate.

[0024] As described above, the particle beam entering the nozzle 107 can have a specified energy and the nozzle 107 includes one or more range shifting and adjusting components that affect the energy of the beam. In some embodiments, the nozzle 107 includes a component, such as a magnet, that controls (e.g., turns, guides, deflects, scans, etc.) beam particles in the "X and Y directions" to scan the target tissue volume. The target tissue volume can be in the patient's body on the support device 108. The nozzle 107 can also include a beam energy adjuster that affects the energy of the particle beam. In some exemplary implementations, the adjustment of the particle beam energy can be used to control: the range of the beam (e.g., the degree to which the beam penetrates the target tissue, etc.), the dose delivered by the beam, and the depth dose curve of the beam, depending on the beam type. For example, for a proton beam or ion beam with a Bragg peak, a beam energy adjuster can control the position of the Bragg peak in the target tissue. The beam energy adjuster can include various components (e.g., a range adjuster, a range shifter, etc.). The beam system 104 may also include components for adjusting the energy of the beam entering the nozzle 107 .

[0025] The radiotherapy system 100 can be used for high dose rate therapy. Some treatment methods include ultra-high dose rate therapy or modality known as FLASH radiotherapy. The treatment window associated with FLASH therapy typically achieves reduced normal tissue toxicity while maintaining cancer tissue tumor control. In some exemplary implementations, the FLASH radiotherapy dose rate can be at least 4 Gray (Gy) in less than one second and up to 20 Gy or 40 Gy in less than one second. In some exemplary implementations, the FLASH radiotherapy dose rate can be more than 40 Gy in less than one second. The radiotherapy system and method are also compatible with multi-field treatment methods, in which different fields are associated with specific treatment trajectories and a per-field dose that is a portion or a fraction of the total dose delivered.

[0026] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a gun subsystem 200 according to some embodiments. The gun subsystem is similar to the gun subsystem 115 and can be used in a radiation therapy system to deliver FLASH radiation therapy. The gun subsystem 200 includes a gun control component 210 and a gun 220. The gun 220 generates a particle beam. It should be understood that the gun 220 can be a variety of different gun types. The gun control component 210 controls the gun particle beam generation characteristics, including particle beam fidelity characteristics.

[0027] Particle beam fidelity can help to utilize various treatment features. Treatment features or characteristics can include high dose rates, multi-field treatment plans, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and the like. High dose rate methods can help to deliver a prescribed dose very quickly, thereby reducing the radiation exposure time window and reducing the possibility of undesired movement of target tissue. Faster delivery can also reduce patient discomfort and inconvenience. Multi-field treatment plans can be used, in which different fields are associated with specific treatment trajectories and a per-field dose that is a portion or a small portion of the total dose delivered. A small portion of the dose delivered per field typically results in a reduced exposure time interval for each field treatment. It should be understood that multiple treatment plans can be associated with short or very small radiation exposure timing intervals. Applying multiple treatment methods together (e.g., ultra-high dose rates in multiple fields) results in a very small radiation exposure window (e.g., a small portion of a second, etc.).

[0028] The gun control component 210 can facilitate particle beam generation with timing resolution and fidelity characteristics compatible with very short radiation exposure intervals. In some embodiments, the gun subsystem is configured to control particle beam generation timing intervals associated with the delivery of a small portion of the field dose at high dose rates. In some exemplary implementations, the gun subsystem can control particle beam generation based on pulse width modulation techniques. In some embodiments, depending on the pulse width and pulsed radio frequency field (PRF), a dose can be delivered in a few pulses.

[0029] In some embodiments, resolution control of particle beam generation can enable dose delivery at both the intra-pulse and micro-bunch level. In some exemplary implementations, the micro-bunch level includes a separate bunch per 3 GHz RF cycle within a 5 to 15 μsec pulse width. The ability to control dose delivery to near the bunch level can improve resolution to approximately 4.4×10 ∧ -6 cGy / beam. It will be appreciated that this resolution may exceed the resolution required in some treatment plans. In some exemplary implementations, resolution control can facilitate about 1% control of dose delivery. The process or dose resolution, when implemented, can be used for arc therapy. It will be appreciated that the gun subsystem can include various implementations.

[0030] In some embodiments, the system can deliver 20 Gy / sec at 100 cm. At a beam power of 10 kW, the beam energy can be 20 MeV, with an average beam current of 0.5 mA and a beam peak current of 33 mA. It should be appreciated that these values ​​are exemplary. In some exemplary implementations, the systems and methods can operate within a range of these values ​​(e.g., within 1%, within 5%, 5% to 20%, etc.).

[0031] Figure 33 is a block diagram of an exemplary laser-controlled gun subsystem 300 according to some embodiments. The gun subsystem 300 includes a photocathode gun 310, a bending magnet 320, and a laser component 330. The gun 301 includes a photocathode gun, which is operable to emit electrons when excited by a laser. The gun 301 can be a component of a linear accelerator. The linear accelerator can have a first section and a second section, wherein the bending component is connected between the sections. The bending component 320 is operable to bend the electrons accelerated by the gun subsystem and the first linear accelerator section. The bending component can include a bending magnet that affects or guides the electrons through the bending member. In some embodiments, the bending component 310 is configured to provide a linear transmission path from the laser component 330 to the photocathode included in the gun component 310 for the excitation laser. The bent particle beam is guided into the second linear accelerator to accelerate the particle beam to its final energy. In some embodiments, the particle beam energy can be adjusted after the second linear accelerator.

[0032] The laser component 330 is operable to control the "gating" or switch of the electron emission from the gun. In some embodiments, a 5usec pulse corresponds to about a 15K electron bunch, which can be turned on and off using the on / off function of the photocathode injector to control the dose output to a resolution close to the dose per bunch. In some embodiments, the laser is pulsed at a frequency in the microwave range. In some exemplary implementations, the oscillation is in the 3 GHz range. In some embodiments, the laser is pulsed away from the rising and falling transient portions of the waveform.

[0033] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary driver-controlled gun subsystem 400 according to some embodiments. The gun subsystem 400 includes a gated gun 410 and a fast gun driver component 420. The fast gun driver component 420 is capable of turning the gate on and off as fast as 333 psec, which in turn achieves a beam gating resolution. In some embodiments, the fast gun driver component 420 facilitates intra-pulse dose delivery control.

[0034] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a particle beam generation method 500 according to some embodiments.

[0035] In block 510, particle generation in a radiotherapy system is pulsed at a periodic rate. The pulses may be in the microwave range. In some embodiments, the pulses have characteristics compatible with ultra-high dose rates. The pulses may have high fidelity characteristics.

[0036] In block 520, the particles are accelerated in the beam by a linear accelerator. In some embodiments, the linear accelerator includes a portion that accelerates the particles. In some exemplary implementations, the linear accelerator includes a portion that decelerates the particles.

[0037] In block 530, the beam emission is directed at the target. In some embodiments, the particle beam includes electrons directed at the target emitting photons and the photons are directed at the target tissue. In some exemplary implementations, the particle beam includes electrons directed at the target tissue.

[0038] It will be appreciated that rapid gun control may have other applications besides medical applications, such as industrial applications where high dose rates aid in various properties (eg, radiation hardening, cross-linking, etc.).

[0039] Thus, the provided systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective generation of radiation beams.In some embodiments, pulse width high dose rate control systems and methods achieve improved fidelity over cruder conventional gun control pulse down and pulse servo methods.

[0040] Some parts of the specific embodiments are provided in terms of other symbolic representations of operations on data bits in programs, logic blocks, processing and computer memories. These descriptions and representations are the means that the technical personnel in the field of data processing usually use to effectively convey the essence of their work to other technical personnel in the field. Programs, logic blocks, processes, etc. are generally considered to be self-consistent sequences of steps or instructions that produce desired results. The steps include physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessary, these quantities are in the form of electrical, magnetic, optical or quantum signals that can be stored, transmitted, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. Mainly for the reason of common use, it has been proved that it is sometimes convenient to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, etc.

[0041] It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms are associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless otherwise expressly stated as apparent from the following discussion, it should be understood that throughout this application, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "displaying," and the like refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, or similar processing devices (e.g., electrical, optical, or quantum computing devices) that manipulate and transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities. The terms refer to the actions and processes of a processing device that manipulates or transforms physical quantities within components of a computer system (e.g., registers, memories, other such information storage devices, transmission or display devices, etc.) into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within other components.

[0042] The foregoing description of various specific embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purpose of illustration and description. The description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the exact form disclosed, and it is obvious that many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments are selected and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, so that others skilled in the art can best utilize the present invention and the various embodiments through various modifications as are suitable for the specific purposes covered. The scope of the present invention is intended to be limited by the appended claims and their equivalents. Unless explicitly stated in the claims, the steps listed in the method claims do not imply any specific order to perform the steps.

Claims

1. A radiation gun system comprising: a particle beam gun, which generates a particle beam and is a component of the first short linear accelerator, wherein the particle beam gun comprises a photocathode and a bending magnet; as well as a gun control component that controls generation characteristics of the particle beam, the generation characteristics including particle beam fidelity characteristics corresponding to a dose rate of at least 20 Gy / second, wherein the gun control component includes a laser component operable to control on-off gating of electron emission from the photocathode in response to excitation of the laser component; And the bending magnets are operable to bend the electrons and provide a linear counter-propagation path for the laser light to the photocathode, wherein the resulting bent beam is then transmitted to a second linear accelerator to accelerate the beam to its final energy.

2. The radiation gun system of claim 1, wherein resolution control of the particle beam generation by the gun control component enables dose delivery at an intra-pulse level.

3. The radiation gun system of claim 1, wherein resolution control of the on-off gating of electron emission from the photocathode by the gun control unit enables delivery of a dose at the microbeam level.

4. The radiation gun system of claim 3, wherein the micro-beam level comprises a separate beam per 3 GHz frequency cycle within a 5 to 15 μsec pulse width.

5. The radiation gun system of claim 3, wherein the particle beam characteristics include a particle beam having a particle size of approximately 4.4×10 ∧ The emitted electrons in the electron bunch are configured with a bunch-level resolution of -6 cGy / electron bunch.

6. The radiation gun system of claim 1, wherein in a 5 microsecond pulse, there are 15,000 switch operations / beam in the gating function of the photocathode injector to control the dose output corresponding to the resolution of the dose per beam.

7. The radiation gun system of claim 1, wherein the gate is activated within a middle portion of a pulse dropout spread associated with a transient in pulse rise / fall times.

8. The radiation gun system of claim 1 , wherein the particle beam gun is a grid-controlled gun, and the control component includes a gun driver that turns on and off at a rate corresponding to a beam resolution, wherein the beam resolution defines the amount of electrons in a beam, and the turning on and off of the gun driver produces an amount of particles corresponding to the beam resolution.

9. The radiation gun system of claim 8 wherein the gate is at 333 picoseconds.

10. A radiotherapy system comprising: A beam generation system, the beam generation system generating and transmitting a particle beam, wherein the beam generation system comprises: a particle beam gun, the particle beam gun generating a particle beam, wherein the particle beam gun is a grid-controlled gun; and a gun control component that controls generation characteristics of the particle beam, the generation characteristics including particle beam fidelity characteristics corresponding to a dose rate of at least 20 Gy / sec, wherein the gun control component includes a gun driver capable of on-off gating and configured to initiate the gating within a mid-portion of a pulse fall-off spread associated with a transient in a pulse rise / fall time; and Control component which receives and directs the execution of the prescribed treatment plan.

11. The radiation therapy system of claim 10, wherein the beam generation system comprises a linear accelerator and components for directing a particle beam in a direction toward and into a nozzle.

12. The radiotherapy system of claim 11, wherein the nozzle can be mounted on or is part of a fixed, rotating or movable gantry such that the nozzle can be moved relative to a support device.

13. The radiation therapy system of claim 10, wherein the beam generation system enables high resolution control of particle beam generation.

14. A radiation method comprising: Producing particle beams; controlling generation characteristics of the particle beam, the controlling comprising controlling pulsing or gating of the particle beam according to beam fidelity characteristics corresponding to a treatment plan, wherein the treatment plan comprises a dose rate of at least 20 Gy / sec, wherein the pulsing or gating is initiated within a middle portion of a pulse fall-off spread associated with a transient in pulse rise / fall times; accelerating particles in the particle beam; as well as The particle beam is bent along a path directed toward a target.

15. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein resolution control of the particle beam generation enables delivery of dose at an intra-pulse level.

16. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein resolution control of the particle beam generation enables delivery of doses at the microbeam level.

17. The radiation method of claim 16, wherein the microbeam level comprises a separate beam per 3 GHz frequency cycle within a 5 to 15 μsec pulse width.

18. The radiation method of claim 16, wherein the generation characteristics of the particle beam include a particle beam having a particle size of about 4.4×10 ∧ -6cGy / electron bunch ±5% bunch-level resolution to configure particles in the electron bunch.

19. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein in a 5 microsecond pulse, there are 15,000 ±5% pulses or switching operations per beam to control the dose output corresponding to the dose resolution per beam.

20. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein the pulsing or gating occurs at a rate corresponding to a bolus resolution, wherein the bolus resolution defines the amount of electrons in a bolus, and the amount of particles in the particle beam corresponds to the bolus resolution.

21. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein the gating is at 333 picoseconds.

22. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein the particle beam comprises photons and the target comprises a target tissue to which the photons are directed.

23. The radiation method of claim 14, wherein the particle beam comprises electrons and the target comprises a target tissue toward which the electrons are directed.

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