The proton therapy system for the NPTC: equipment description and progress report

Jongen, Y.; Laycock, S.; Abs, M.; Amelia, J Carr; Beeckman, W.; Kleeven, W.; Ladeuze, M.; Lannoye, G.; Leyman, Didier; Poreye, V.; Vandeplassche, D.; Zaremba, S.; Hurn, T.; Nissley, L.; Hubbard, E.; Heiberger, M.; Tabor, M.; Silke, Christiansen; Tachikawa, Tatsuya; Sano, M.; Takayama, Tetsuji; Ohtomo, K.; Satoh, Takemi

doi:10.1016/0168-583x(95)01319-9

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…For achieving the clinically relevant energies the beam is decelerated by a degrader unit consisting of carbon wedges that are inserted in the beam path. This process completely destroys the phase space of the beam in the transverse and longitudinal dimension [86]. For transporting the beam further to the isocenter, it must be drastically cut by apertures to stay within the acceptance of the beam transport system (transverse phase space).…”

Section: Review Of Facilities In Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preclinical Challenges in Proton Minibeam Radiotherapy: Physics and Biomedical Aspects

et al. 2020

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The concept of spatial fractionation in radiotherapy was developed for better sparing of normal tissue in the entrance channel of radiation. Spatial fractionation utilizing proton minibeam radiotherapy (pMBRT) promises to be advantageous compared to X-ray minibeams due to higher dose conformity at the tumor. Preclinical in vivo experiments conducted with pMBRT in mouse ear models or in rat brains support the prospects, but the research about the radiobiological mechanisms and the search for adequate application parameters delivering the most beneficial minibeam therapy is still in its infancy. Concerning preclinical research, we consider glioma, non-small cell lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma as the most promising targets and propose investigating the effects on healthy tissue, especially neuronal cells and abdominal organs. The experimental setups for preclinical pMBRT used so far follow different technological approaches, and experience technical limitations when addressing the current questions in the field. We review the crucial physics parameters necessary for proton minibeam production and link them to the technological challenges to be solved for providing an optimal research environment. We consider focusing of pencil or planar minibeams in a scanning approach superior compared to collimation due to less beam halos, higher peak-to-valley dose ratios and higher achievable dose rates. A possible solution to serve such a focusing system with a high-quality proton beam at all relevant energies is identified to be a 3 GHz radio-frequency linear accelerator. We propose using a 16 MeV proton beam from an existing tandem accelerator injected into a linear post-accelerator, boosted up to 70 MeV, and finally delivered to an imaging and positioning end-station suitable for small animal irradiation. Ion-optical simulations show that this combination can generate focused proton minibeams with sizes down to 0.1 mm at 18 nA mean proton current - sufficient for all relevant preclinical experiments. This technology is expected to offer powerful and versatile tools for unleashing structured and advanced preclinical pMBRT studies at the limits and also has the potential to enable a next step into precision tumor therapy.

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Section: Review Of Facilities In Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preclinical Challenges in Proton Minibeam Radiotherapy: Physics and Biomedical Aspects

et al. 2020

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“…Input to these and other issues could represent a potential contribution to further improving radiotherapy outcomes. Proton therapy is one among the most effective methods for treatment of tumor cells [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a PET cyclotron based irradiation setup for proton radiobiology

et al. 2015

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An out-of-yoke irradiation setup using the proton beam from a cyclotron that ordinary produces radioisotopes for positron emission tomography (PET) has been developed, characterized, calibrated and validated. The current from a 20 µm thick aluminum transmission foil is readout by home-made transimpedance electronics, providing online dose information. The main monitoring variables, delivered in real-time, include beam current, integrated charge and dose rate. Hence the dose and integrated current delivered at a given instant to an experimental setup can be computercontrolled with a shutter. In this work, we report on experimental results and Geant4 simulations of a setup which exploits for the first time the 18 MeV proton beam from a PET cyclotron to irradiate a selected region of a target using the developed irradiation system. By using this system, we are able to deliver a homogeneous beam on targets with 18 mm diameter, allowing to achieve the controlled irradiation of cell cultures located in biological multi-well dishes of 16 mm diameter. We found that the magnetic field applied inside the cyclotron plays a major role for achieving the referred to homogeneity. The quasi-Gaussian curve obtained by scanning the magnet current and measuring the corresponding dose rate must be measured before any irradiation procedure, with the shutter closed. At the optimum magnet current, which corresponds to the center of the Gaussian, a homogenous dose is observed over the whole target area. Making use of a rotating disk with a slit of 0.5 mm at a radius of 150 mm, we could measure dose rates on target ranging from 500 mGy/s down to 5 mGy/s. For validating the developed irradiation setup, several Gafchromic R EBT2 films were exposed to different values of dose. The absolute dose in the irradiated films were assessed in the 2D film dosimetry system of the Department of Radiotherapy of Coimbra University Hospital Center with a precision better than 2%. In the future, we plan to irradiate small animals, cell cultures, or other materials or samples.

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“…P ROTON therapy is one among the most effective methods for treatment of tumor cells [1]. Proton beams produced by different cyclotron models can be used in order to perform radiobiological experiments, radiation hardness tests of materials and devices for spacecraft, detector developments, Manuscript and nuclear physics studies, among others [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a high-dynamic dose-range irradiation setup for radiobioloy and radiophysiology

Ghithan

Alves

Carmo

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record (NSS/MIC)

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The number of cyclotrons capable of accelerating protons to about 20 MeV is increasing throughout the world. In Portugal, an IBA (Ion Beam Applications, Belgium) model Cyclone 18/9 cyclotron was installed at ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadasà Saúde) for positron emission tomography (PET) in 2010. Such facility is equipped with eight beam lines suitable for scientific research. Each beam line may deliver proton currents up to 150 µA (1×10 15 particles/s).Radiobiological and dosimetric studies, among others, can be performed using these beam lines. In this work, we report on experimental results and Geant4 and SRIM/TRIM simulations, which aim at investigating the possible use of the 18 -MeV proton beam from the PET cyclotron to irradiate a selected region of a target with 1-mm diameter. We prove by simulation and experiment that we are indeed able to irradiate a selected region of a target with 1-mm diameter (i.e., the beam spot is very sharp). In addition, simulations indicate that neutron and γ-ray dose on a realistic target is negligible down to at most the 1 % level when compared with the proton dose. Moreover, the experimental and simulation results show good beam uniformity in the targetselected region. In addition to the previously-mentioned results, we measured the Bragg peak of the protons from ICNAS cyclotron by using a stacked target consisting of aluminum foils interleaved with polyethylene sheets, readout by custommade electronics. Finally, calculations show that the proposed irradiation setup may span 4 orders of magnitude, ranging from 1 cGy to 100 Gy. Such a setup could satisfy user requirements in several fields, including ion therapy radiobiological and animal studies and biological science.

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The proton therapy system for the NPTC: equipment description and progress report

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Preclinical Challenges in Proton Minibeam Radiotherapy: Physics and Biomedical Aspects

Preclinical Challenges in Proton Minibeam Radiotherapy: Physics and Biomedical Aspects

Development of a PET cyclotron based irradiation setup for proton radiobiology

Towards a high-dynamic dose-range irradiation setup for radiobioloy and radiophysiology

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