Irradiation Activity With the Top-Implart Proton Linear Accelerator

Abstract

A proton linear accelerator devoted to proton therapy application, is under construction in the "Particle Accelerators and Medical Applications Laboratory" at the ENEA Frascati research center in the framework of the TOP (Terapia Oncologica con Protoni) -IMPLART (Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator for RadioTherapy) project funded by the regional government of Lazio in Italy. The proton linac is composed by a modular sequence of RF linear accelerators designed to reach the energy of 150 MeV. The beam features, particularly useful for very conformal irradiation of tumours in complex anatomical regions, can be likewise translated to other situations. Therefore, during the process of commissioning of the TOP-IMPLART accelerator, the beam has been also made available as a versatile proton source for ancillary experiments in the framework of other projects. Presently, indeed, the maximum TOP-IMPLART beam energy is 35 MeV and this section delivers a 3 usec pulsed beam at the maximum repetition frequency of 25 Hz with a variable charge in each pulse in the range 5-100 pC. This beam is used for pilot experiments to simulate cosmic conditions on the ground and PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) analysis for the determination of elemental composition of archeological and old painting samples. This work presents an overview of these activities, describing in detail the different set up adopted to perform the tests and the main achieved results.

Beam commissioning of the 35 MeV section in an intensity modulated proton linear accelerator for proton therapy

“…During the commissioning, satellite measurements have been performed in view of the beam dosimetric characterization [34] required for in vitro and in vivo radiobiological studies. Moreover, experiments in the fields of spectroscopy and preservation of cultural heritage [35][36][37] have also been carried out. These experiments typically require a homogeneous beam on a circular area of 1-2 cm 2 .…”