Overview of the LIGHT System
Key Guiding Design Principles of our Proton Therapy System
The heart of the LIGHT system is its accelerator which has been designed as a series of modular units. Our ambition, as we develop the next generation of particle therapy systems, is threefold:
- To overcome the costly infrastructure and extensive shielding requirements of first-generation cyclotrons
Thanks to its modular design, its lighter weight and its better proton efficiency, the LIGHT system has been designed to reduce the construction cost of the facility required to house it and makes proton
therapy more accessible to local, smaller hospitals.
The linear design of LIGHT allows for (i) an active
longitudinal modulation along the proton beam axis and (ii) the variation of the proton beam by electronic means during cancer treatment. The modular feature
of LIGHT offers hospitals and treatment centres the flexibility to customise cancer treatment
plans based on a wide range of energies. Potentially, this could provide
an alternative to
passive modulation, that degrades the beam along its path, causing
it to
lose integrity. Moreover, a dynamic transversal modulation allows a
precise 3D treatment of the tumours via the 'spot scanning' technique.