Design study of a 9 MeV compact cyclotron system for PET

Abstract

A cyclotron is an accelerator which can be applied to both cancer diagnosis and treatment. Among commercially sold cyclotrons, the major energy is used for positron emission tomography (PET) ranges from 10 to 20 MeV. In this research, 9 MeV compact cyclotron for PET was designed. The research was conducted on the response cross section and the yield for the energy distribution to decide the design features. Also, it was determined the specifications on the basis of the fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) maximum dose. The machine, which has a 20 uA beam current, is designed to be installed in small-to-medium-sized hospitals in local cities because of its relatively light weight (6 tons). This compact cyclotron, which provides 9-MeV proton beams, is composed of a azimuthally varying field (AVF) electromagnet, 83-MHz RF systems with a 20 kW amplifier, a panning ion gauge (PIG) type ion-source for negative hydrogen, and a double-stage high-vacuum system. The basic model design was done by using 3-D CAD program, CATIA and all the field calculations were performed using commercial electromagnetic field analysis code, OPERA-3D TOSCA. From this research, we expect a time reduction for FDG production, a decrease of radioactive exposure for workers, and an equipment cost reduction.