The neutron therapy facility (DT, 14 MeV) at the radiotherapy department of the university hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf

The neutron therapy facility at the Radiotherapy Department of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf is described. This unit has been developed for clinical purposes according to the initiative and conception of the radiotherapist by AEG/Fed. Rep. of Germany and RDI/USA since 1969. The installation was completed at the beginning of 1974. Special treatment head and bed systems allow isocentric treatment and arc or multiple port therapy. For routine work operation conditions of 8 to 12 mA total beam current and 500 kV accelerating voltage are used. The neutron output at 12 mA is about 3.5 x 10(12) n/s giving a phantom dose rate of more than 20 rad/min for a field size of 17.8 x 17.8 cm2 at 80 cm source-skin distance. Technical installations for improvement of dose rate and half-life of the target are planned. Results of physical measurements about neutron energy distributions, contributions from neutrons and gamma-rays to the total absorbed dose, build-up effect, axial and lateral dose distributions as well as isodose profiles for different field sizes in a homogeneous phantom are presented. Bewteen February 1976 and November 1977 up to 180 patients have been treated.