  In the last ten years the use of proton beams in radiation therapy has become
a clinical tool for treatment of deep-seated tumours. LIBO is a RF compact and
low cost proton linear accelerator (SCL type) for hadrontherapy. It is
conceived by TERA Foundation as a 3 GHz Linac Booster, to be mounted downstream
of an existing cyclotron in order to boost the energy of the proton beam up to
200 MeV, needed for deep treatment (~25 cm) in the human body. With this
solution it is possible to transform a low energy commercial cyclotron,
normally used for eye melanoma therapy, isotope production and nuclear physics
research, into an accelerator for deep-seated tumours. A prototype module of
LIBO has been built and successfully tested with full RF power at CERN and with
proton beam at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, within an
international collaboration between TERA Foundation, CERN, the Universities and
INFN groups of Milan and Naples. The mid-term aim of the project is the
technology transfer of the accumulated know-how to a consortium of companies
and to bring this novel medical tool to hospitals. The design, construction and
tests of the LIBO prototype are described in detail.
