Progress of the proton-ion medical machine study (PIMMS)

The Proton-Ion Medical Machine Study (PIMMS) was set up following an agreem ent between Professor M. Regler of the Med-AUSTRON (Austria) and Professor U. Amaldi of the TERA Foundation (Italy) to join their efforts in the desig n of a medical synchrotron that could later be adapted to individual nation al needs. CERN agreed to host this study inside its PS Division and to cont ribute one full-time member to the study team. The study group has worked i n collaboration with GSI (Germany) and was more recently joined by Onkologi e 2000 (Czech Republic). Work started in January 1996 and is expected to fi nish during 1998. The agreed aim of the study was to investigate and design a generic facility that would allow the direct clinical comparison of prot ons and carbon ions for cancer treatment. The accelerator was to be designe d primarily for high-precision active beam scanning with both protons and i ons, but was also to be capable of delivering proton beams with passive spr eading.