A dose-per-pulse monitor for a dual-mode medical accelerator.

On a radiotherapy accelerator, the dose monitoring system is the last level of protection between the patient and the extremely high dose rate which all accelerators are capable of producing. The risk of losing this level of protection is substantially reduced if two or more dose monitoring systems are used which are mechanically and electrically independent in design. This paper describes the installation of an independent radiation monitor in a dual-mode, computer-controlled accelerator with a moveable monitor chamber. The added device is fixed in the beam path, is capable of monitoring each beam pulse, and is capable of terminating irradiation within the pulse repetition period if any measured pulse is unacceptably high.