What we do

Particle Beam Therapy

Pyramid's products are used in several critical parts of commercial particle therapy systems. Particle therapy is fast emerging as a premier method of treating various cancers which are difficult or even impossible to treat by other methods. A dedicated particle accelerator, such as a cyclotron or synchrotron, accelerates ions such as protons or carbon nucleii to energies sufficient to penetrate the body. The particles are delivered to the patients in treatment stations using precision ion optics. The energy and spatial distribution of the particle beam at each station must be controlled to high accuracy, so that the tumor is irradiated while the dose to surrounding tissues is minimized. Because the majority of the energy deposition by a particle beam occurs in the Bragg peak at the end of range, the dose can be delivered to a tumor inside the body, but with much lower dose to the surface layers that can be achieved by conventional X-ray radiotherapy.

Beam Diagnostics. Standard products from the Pyramid catalog were selected by a major supplier of medical equipment to read various beam diagnostics detectors on a large-scale particle therapy product. The diagnostics confirm that beam quality is optimized before patient treatments are performed. Products used in the system include the I3200, I200 and A500.

Beam Scanning. Pencil-beam scanning is a method of particle therapy which offers particularly precise control of the dose distribution. A narrow beam of ions is moved rapidly over the required area in a planned pattern, while monitoring the dose delivered to each point. Pyramid drew on its experience with precision magnetic beam scanning and dosimetry to develop a scanning controller system, based upon its standard products, for a leading supplier of particle therapy systems. Devices used in the system include the I3200, F100, H10 and A500.

Pyramid devices used in commercial particle therapy systems

Semiconductor Process Equipment

Ion implantation is a vital process in semiconductor wafer processing. Ion implanters are harsh environments for electronics, with transients from arcing in the beamline liable to cause disruption. Pyramid electronics has been developed to tolerate such conditions; fiber-optic communications in particular provides perfect immunity to electrical noise.

RF Controller. Pyramid developed and manufactured a multichannel RF controller for a heavy-ion linac used in an ion implanter, for a major semiconductor process equipment maker (system described in Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B vol 217 p 143-157). The underlying technology made novel use of fast digital multipliers and multiple high-perfomance digital signal processors, and was awarded patent protection.

Dosimetry Control System. High-current ion implanters must optimize their use of the available beam current, by measuring the beam properties, and controlling the relative motion of silicon wafer and beam. Pyramid developed and manufactured a complete real-time dosimetry control system for a high current implanter. The system comprised a real-time controller with multi-axis motion control and fiber-optic links to current measuring electrometers. Several hundred devices have been sold, and Pyramid maintains comprehensive after-sales support for the products via the leading semiconductor equipment supplier which commissioned the project.

Magnetic Beam Scan Control. Pyramid developed and manufactured WaveScan, a DSP-based scan controller, which used beam profile data and magnetic field feedback to establish and execute a scan waveform which gave uniform implantation on a wafer. The novel control method, using Fourier transforms, was patented.

RF Controller

Dosimetry controller and electrometers

WaveScan magnetic scan control

Detector Systems

Ionization Chambers. Pyramid has designed ionization chambers to complement its current measuring electronics. A position-sensitive chamber with two cathodes carrying orthogonal readout strips is suited to high-energy particle beam imaging. It is combined with two I3200 units and an A500 to provide simultaneous synchronized readout in two linear axes.

Tomographic Beam Imager. Pyramid has developed a rotating wire array to permit tomographic reconstruction of a two-dimensional beam profile from a single axis of measurement. This method is suited to applications where two one-dimensional projections cannot give the full story, and where a full two-dimensional detector system is not possible.

32 by 32 strip ionization chamber

Tomographic beam profiler

Synchrotron Light Source Beamlines

Synchrotrons light sources are used world-wide to provide unrivalled research capability in the physical and biological sciences. Pyramid collaborates with leading supplier FMB-Oxford Ltd (www.fmb-oxford.com) to provide readout and data-handling solutions for synchrotron beamlines and experimental end-stations.

Quad BPM readout. The I404 was specifically designed with quad diode beam position monitors in mind. It includes on-board position calculations, and both analog voltage and TTL frequency monitor outputs which map either the input currents or the position outputs.

Blade BPM Readout. The I400 is well-suited to readout blade beam position monitors, which measure the current caused by the high intensity X-ray beam striking an in-vacuum blade electrode. The biased input feature of the I400 ensures that all the resulting current is measured, irrespective of the trajectories of the emitted electrons.

Ion Chamber Readout. The IC101 is designed to provide a compact, integrated solution for ion chamber readout, with a sensitive electrometer input and HV supply for bias voltages up to 3 kV. Analog voltage and TTL frequency monitor outputs are provided.

Monochromator Stabilization. The output beam intensity from a double-crystal monochromator can be stabilized against primary beam fluctuation or environmental pertubations. The Pyramid I200 measures the output beam current as seen by a photodiode, ionization chamber or similar sensor, then uses a built-in servo loop driving the piezo motor of the monochromator crystal cage to maintain constant current.

Synchrotron monochromator beamline

Charged Particle Beamline Systems

Charged particle beamlines are used widely in experimental physics. Pyramid has designed and built several complete beamline systems and electromagnet components of beamlines. A range of modeling programs are used to develop the designs, and beamline physicists and mechanical designers work together to optimize all aspects of the configuration. Full 3-D finite element electromagnetic modeling is carried out in collaboration with Best Solution Ltd (www.best-solution.co.uk) using Vector Fields and Ansys.

Scanning Magnet System. A novel beam scanning system particularly suited to electron beam scanning has been developed and tested in prototype form. A patent application is pending. The design allows an electron beam to be scanned or precisely positioned along a line of several metres length, using minimal space.

Proton Microprobe. Pyramid contributed beamline design and manufacture to a proton microprobe beamline for PIXE, located at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B, vol. 104, p. 1-6). The beamline was able to focus 1.5 MeV protons to a 1 μm spot size in vacuum.

Scanning magnet system

Proton microprobe system

Computer Vision Systems

A combination of well-designed illumination and sophisticated image analysis software allows computer vision systems to perform tasks at speeds and accuracies that cannot be matched by human operators.

Sperm Analysis. The world-leading laboratory sperm analyzer from Hamilton Thorne (www.hamiltonthorne.com) uses video systems and image analysis software developed by Pyramid.

Semiconductor Wafer Alignment. The VideoScan system is designed to be incorporated into the existing wafer path through a semiconductor process tool. The alignment notch can be located to 0.1 degree accuracy within 100 msec. If the tool is fitted with a rotatable wafer chuck, a specified alignment can then be made without the need for the wafer to be sent to a dedicated alignment station.

Sperm analysis software

VideoScan wafer alignment sensor