REMOTE - An accelerator system for the FLASH treatment of large deep-seated tumors

About

The potential benefits of radiation treatment in FLASH timescales have been clearly demonstrated in experiments and clinical trials are underway for specific cases such as skin and intraoperative treatment using low energy electrons. Generalizing FLASH therapy to large, deep-seated tumors requires new radiation delivery infrastructure. A collaboration between CHUV and CERN is now developing an accelerator system for such a facility which is scheduled to be used for first clinical trials in 2025. The facility uses > 100 MeV electrons and draws heavily on technology developed by the CLIC project. The major features and critical issues of the accelerator, as well the status of the project are described.

Short bio:

Walter Wuensch is a principle applied physicist in the Radio-Frequency group at CERN currently leading the development of high-performance linac technology for multiple applications including CLIC and a broad range of next-generation compact accelerators including XFELs, Inverse Compton Sources and medical linacs. The accelerator technology development is complemented by both theoretical and experimental investigations of the fundamental processes which occur at high-gradients including field emission and breakdown. The investigations are illuminating long-standing mysteries and the newly gained understanding are being applied to a range of applications the electron linacs, RFQs and high-voltage systems.