A new superficial X-ray therapy unit

Abstract

There is currently a shortage of commercially available superficial X-ray therapy units in the range 50–150 kV, both for new departments and for the replacement of old equipment. As a result of this shortage, an X-ray unit designed for industrial radiography has been used as the basis of a new superficial X-ray therapy unit. A detailed specification (Royal Marsden Hospital, internal report, 1969) was first written for such a unit covering all aspects of performance (beam qualities, exposure rates, field sizes, treatment distances, safety interlocks, etc.) and the new unit was built to this specification. The design and construction of the unit and its performance as a therapy set are described. The X-ray generator is a modified Pantak 150 kV unit type LC 150 incorporating a Thermax SLT/T X-ray insert tube. The HT generator and the cables are those in use on the 150 kV industrial units. The control console and the oil cooler were designed by Pantak Ltd. for this X-ray unit on the basis of our specification...