Control system for cancer therapy with a heavy ion beam at GSI

A system of three dimensional raster scanning of carbon beam used for cance r therapy has been designed and built at CSI and is in operation since Dece mber, 1997. The following components are presented: 1. The front-end real-time system. It is based on VME boards with DSPs desi gned and built at GSI. In treatment mode, the beam is steered and controlle d automatically according to the patient's treatment plan. 2. The on-line monitoring system. During the treatment all data measured by the front-ends is sent via a separate bus to a memory located in a second VME crate. A data server in this crate sends the data as it arrives via TCP to the therapy on-line monitor program, TOM, which displays the treatment process in nearly real-time. 3. The data acquisition and analysis system. In experimental mode the same system is used for quality control and calibration of the beam before the t reatment. The measured beam positions and shapes are sent through the same data channel to an analysis package developed at GSI.