Design of the offline test electronics for the nozzle system of proton therapy

TL;DR

This paper presents the design of a test electronics system using ZYNQ SoC for simulating proton therapy nozzle signals, enabling offline commissioning without the proton beam.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel ionization chamber signal generation system that accurately simulates beam parameters for proton therapy nozzle testing.

Findings

Simulates beam position with ±0.33mm accuracy

Simulates dose signals with ±1% accuracy

Supports environmental parameter output

Abstract

A set of nozzle equipment for proton therapy is now being developed at China Institute of Atomic Energy. To facilitate the off-line commissioning of the whole equipment, a set of ionization chamber signal generation system, the test electronics, is designed. The system uses ZYNQ SoC as the main control unit and outputs the beam dose analog signal through DAC8532. The dual SPDT analog switch, DG636, is used to simulate the beam position signals according to Gaussian distribution. The results show that the system can simulate the beam position, dose, and other related analog signals generated by the proton beam when passing through the ionization chamber. Moreover, the accuracy of the simulated beam position is within +/-0.33mm, and the accuracy of the simulated dose signal is within +/-1%. At the same time, it can output analog signals representing environmental parameters. The test electronics meets the design requirements, which can be used to commission the nozzle system as well as the treatment control system without the proton beam.