Discrete event simulation of a proton therapy facility: a case study

Proton therapy is a type of particle therapy which utilizes a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue. The main difference with respect to conventional radiotherapy (X-rays, γ-rays) is the capability to target tumors with extreme precision, which makes it possible to treat deep-seated tumors and tumors affecting noble tissues as brain, eyes, etc. However, proton therapy needs high-energy cyclotrons and this requires sophisticated control-supervision schema to guarantee, further than the prescribed performance, the safety of the patients and of the operators. In this paper we present the modeling and simulation of the irradiation process of the PROSCAN facility at the Paul Scherrer Institut. This is a challenging task because of the complexity of the operation scenario, which consists of deterministic and stochastic processes resulting from the coordination–interaction among diverse entities such as distributed automatic control systems, safety protection systems, and human operators.

Questo lavoro si concentra sul processo di irradiamento in un centro di andro-terapia (con riferimento al sistema PROSCAN del Paul Scherrer Institut) con l’obiettivo di individuare quegli elementi critici per aumentare l’efficienza nell’utilizzo del sistema senza compromettere gli aspetti di safety e confort peri pazienti. Tale problematica è di non semplice gestione essendo lo scenario complesso in quanto sul processo di irradiazione intervengono una pluralità di sistemi, non strettamente coordinati, quali il automatic control systems, il safety protection systems nonché le azioni compiute dagli operatori