Preliminary Study of Neutron Field in Top-Implart Proton Therapy Beam

Abstract

The TOP-IMPLART, a new proton therapy facility, is under development in Frascati ENEA Laboratories, near Rome. The project is centered on a medium-energy proton accelerator designed as a sequence of modular linear accelerators (the final energy will be 230 MeV). Being not a commercial product, measurements and simulation are fundamental to characterize the system and the radiation field, even during its construction. In this work some preliminary evaluations of the neutron contamination have been tried. The simulations were validated through some measurements obtaining a satisfactory agreement. A more detailed calculations and measurements campaign is scheduled for the next future.

Irradiation Activity With the Top-Implart Proton Linear Accelerator

“…These tools are used to set the beam dose during the irradiation tests as will be described below. The variable energy output and the pulsed time structure are very well suited for many applications and, thanks to the modularity of the linac, we can also make different types of irradiations with the medium energy beam (not available for clinical application) during the assembly steps of the machine: in this last year, we got the experience in animal radiobiology, proton exposure of biological material for space applications (irradiation in vivo of plants and animals), spectroscopy of X-ray induced by protons (PIXE analysis and PIXE differential of cultural heritage), dose calibration of radiotherapy monitors, test of innovative active dosimeters, measures of secondary radiation proton induced -passive and active measures of neutron fields [9,10], development and characterization of passive dosimeters [8].…”