# Particle therapy machines: from Loma Linda to proton rooms in a linac vault, carbon gantries and FLASH

Source: https://onco.cc/roadmaps/particle-therapy-machines-roadmap/  
OnCo record `particle-therapy-machines-roadmap` (Roadmap). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Proton and carbon-ion machines began as building-sized accelerators and are shrinking towards a single room. This is the chain of models, from Loma Linda's hospital proton centre to compact cyclotrons, upright chairs, superconducting carbon gantries and FLASH.

## Summary

Loma Linda's proton system was cleared by the FDA in February 1988 (K872369) and treatments began in October 1990. IBA's proton therapy system followed in 2001 (K983024), Hitachi's PROBEAT in 2006, Varian's in 2010, Sumitomo's in 2013 and ProTom's in 2014. Compactness drove the next decade: Mevion's S250 put the accelerator on the gantry (K120676, 2012) and added scanning with an adaptive aperture in the S250i (2017); IBA's single-room Proteus ONE with a superconducting synchrocyclotron was cleared in 2016 (K152224); Varian's ProBeam 360 brought a smaller gantry and a 226 MeV cyclotron in 2022 (K221791). Upright treatment removed the gantry: P-Cure (2023), Leo Cancer Care's Marie (2025) and Mevion's S250-FIT (2025), which Mevion says fits a standard linac vault.

Carbon-ion machines remain few. Toshiba and Japan's national institute developed a superconducting rotating gantry about 13 m long against 25 m for the conventional design, installed in 2017; Toshiba's two gantry rooms at Yonsei began treating in 2024. Hitachi began heavy-ion treatment in Osaka in 2018. China's first domestically developed carbon-ion system, at Wuwei, was approved by the NMPA in 2019, and a Shanghai 360-degree proton system was registered in 2026. FLASH remains investigational on every platform: FAST-01 and FAST-02 used a modified ProBeam, and IBA and IntraOp state that their FLASH modes are not cleared.

## Fields

- Kind: Roadmap
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Tags: machines-wave3

## Sources

- FDA 510(k) K872369: Loma Linda University proton beam therapy system (22 February 1988): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K872369
- Coutrakon et al., the Loma Linda proton accelerator, treatments began October 1990 (PAC 1991): https://epaper.kek.jp/p91/PDF/PAC1991_0532.PDF
- FDA 510(k) K983024: IBA proton therapy system (12 July 2001): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K983024
- FDA 510(k) K053280: Hitachi PROBEAT (9 March 2006): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K053280
- FDA 510(k) K101294: Varian PT2 proton therapy system (27 December 2010): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K101294
- FDA 510(k) K130426: Sumitomo proton therapy system (19 November 2013): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K130426
- FDA 510(k) K134052: ProTom Radiance 330 (14 March 2014): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K134052
- FDA 510(k) K120676: Mevion S250 (4 June 2012): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K120676
- FDA 510(k) K172848: Mevion S250i (27 December 2017): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K172848
- FDA 510(k) K152224: IBA Proteus ONE and Proteus PLUS (9 August 2016): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K152224
- FDA 510(k) K221791: Varian ProBeam 360 (1 December 2022): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K221791
- FDA 510(k) K250986: Mevion S250-FIT (12 September 2025): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K250986
- Toshiba: superconducting rotating gantry for heavy-ion therapy: https://www.global.toshiba/ww/products-solutions/heavy-ion/topics/gantry-delivery.html
- Toshiba: heavy-ion gantry rooms begin treatment at Yonsei (May 2024): https://www.global.toshiba/ww/news/energy/2024/05/news-20240528-01.html
- Hitachi: heavy-ion therapy system begins treatment in Osaka (16 October 2018): https://www.hitachi.com/en/press/articles/2018/10/1016b/
- Chinese Academy of Sciences: China's first self-developed carbon-ion therapy system approved (October 2019): https://english.cas.cn/head/201910/t20191010_219845.shtml
- Chinese Academy of Sciences: 360-degree rotating proton system registered by the NMPA (July 2026): https://lssf.cas.cn/en/news/nu/202607/t20260702_5114237.html
- Siemens and partners: Kiel particle therapy facility discontinued (14 September 2011): https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1c75f695-43a9-4b4f-90ba-06e48b5e422f/AXX20110983e.pdf
- A Siemens IONTRIS proton and carbon-ion system in clinical use in Shanghai (J Radiat Res 2025): https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rraf023
- IBA: Proteus ONE, DynamicARC and ConformalFLASH not yet cleared: https://www.iba-protontherapy.com/proteusone
- IntraOp: Mobetron FLASH, investigational use only: https://intraop.com/flash/
- THERYQ: FLASHDEEP very-high-energy electron device in development: https://www.theryq-alcen.com/flash-radiotherapy-products/flashdeep/

## Connected records

- roadmaps: [Radiotherapy roadmap: X-rays → shaped beams → fewer fractions, particles and FLASH](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/radiation-roadmap/)
- ideas: [A coordinated FLASH radiotherapy evidence programme with shared dose-rate standards](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-fund-flash-evidence-programme/), [A shared registry comparing upright and lying-down radiotherapy](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-mach-upright-versus-supine-registry/), [Compact FLASH and proton systems at the price of a conventional linac](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-moon-compact-flash-proton/), [Pooled coverage-with-evidence for proton therapy across all centres](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-fund-proton-coverage-with-evidence/)
- fronts: [Devices & Physical Therapies](https://onco.cc/fronts/devices/), [Radiation Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/radiation/)
- technologies: [Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities](https://onco.cc/technologies/carbon-ion-synchrotrons/), [Carbon-ion therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/carbon-ion/), [FLASH radiotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/flash-rt/), [FLASH research accelerators (Oriatron, Mobetron FLASH, ProBeam FLASH)](https://onco.cc/technologies/flash-research-accelerators/), [Pencil-beam scanning and intensity-modulated proton therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/intensity-modulated-proton-therapy/), [Proton arc therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/proton-arc-therapy/), [Proton therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/proton-therapy/), [Proton therapy machines: cyclotrons, synchrotrons and single-room systems](https://onco.cc/technologies/proton-therapy-systems/), [Upright radiotherapy positioning (Leo Cancer Care Marie, P-Cure, Mevion S250-FIT)](https://onco.cc/technologies/upright-radiotherapy-positioning/), [Very-high-energy electron therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/vhee-radiotherapy/)
- companies: [Hitachi (particle therapy)](https://onco.cc/companies/hitachi/), [IBA (Ion Beam Applications)](https://onco.cc/companies/iba/), [IntraOp Medical](https://onco.cc/companies/intraop-medical/), [Leo Cancer Care](https://onco.cc/companies/leo-cancer-care/), [Mevion Medical Systems](https://onco.cc/companies/mevion/), [P-Cure](https://onco.cc/companies/p-cure/), [ProTom International](https://onco.cc/companies/protom/), [Sumitomo Heavy Industries](https://onco.cc/companies/sumitomo-heavy-industries/), [THERYQ](https://onco.cc/companies/theryq/), [Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions](https://onco.cc/companies/toshiba-energy-systems/), [Varian (Siemens Healthineers)](https://onco.cc/companies/varian/)
- institutions: [Asan Medical Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/asan-medical-center/), [Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi](https://onco.cc/institutions/cleveland-clinic-abu-dhabi/), [Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/fuscc/), [Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/mgh/), [QST Hospital (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology)](https://onco.cc/institutions/qst-hospital/), [Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University](https://onco.cc/institutions/ruijin-hospital/), [Severance Hospital, Yonsei University](https://onco.cc/institutions/severance/), [Stanford Health Care / Stanford Cancer Institute](https://onco.cc/institutions/stanford/)
- trials: [FAST-01 (proton FLASH for bone metastases)](https://onco.cc/trials/fast-01/), [FAST-02 (proton FLASH for thoracic bone metastases)](https://onco.cc/trials/fast-02/)
- bottlenecks: [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/), [Prices and value](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-drug-pricing/), [Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-surgery-radiation-innovation/)

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