At the highest level, elements of any modern Proton Therapy (PT) system can be organized along some standard lines. These systems will all produce protons and direct them to a clinical treatment area, they will all need some method to physically support the patient, to verify tumor position, to monitor patient motion and so forth.

Whether components are developed in-house or by a supplier, there are common elements expected to be present in any modern proton therapy system. Innovation can add to this pool, but more commonly will add to the feature set of those expected components. Software is an essential part of the system and an architecture that provides an extensible framework will enable and encourage that innovation.