1. Secondary radiation measurements for particle therapy applications: nuclear fragmentation produced by4He ion beams in a PMMA target
- Author
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M. Toppi, Riccardo Paramatti, Adalberto Sciubba, P.M. Frallicciardi, C. Voena, Francesco Collamati, Riccardo Faccini, M. Rovituso, Alessio Sarti, G Traini, I. Mattei, Vincenzo Patera, E. Solfaroli Camillocci, Antoni Rucinski, Carlo Mancini-Terracciano, Luca Piersanti, Michela Marafini, A Russomando, G. Battistoni, S. Muraro, D. Pinci, and E. De Lucia
- Subjects
Nuclear reaction ,Materials science ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Physics::Medical Physics ,Monte Carlo method ,FOS: Physical sciences ,01 natural sciences ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,Ion ,03 medical and health sciences ,differential yield ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nuclear Medicine and Imaging ,0103 physical sciences ,medicine ,Relative biological effectiveness ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,PMMA target ,Nuclear Experiment ,010306 general physics ,Particle therapy ,Radiological and Ultrasound Technology ,helium beam ,nuclear fragmentation ,Physics - Medical Physics ,Charged particle ,Computational physics ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging ,Atomic nucleus ,Physics::Accelerator Physics ,Medical Physics (physics.med-ph) ,Radiology ,Beam (structure) - Abstract
Nowadays there is a growing interest in Particle Therapy treatments exploiting light ion beams against tumors due to their enhanced Relative Biological Effectiveness and high space selectivity. In particular promising results are obtained by the use of $^4$He projectiles. Unlike the treatments performed using protons, the beam ions can undergo a fragmentation process when interacting with the atomic nuclei in the patient body. In this paper the results of measurements performed at the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy center are reported. For the first time the absolute fluxes and the energy spectra of the fragments - protons, deuterons, and tritons - produced by $^4$He ion beams of 102, 125 and 145 MeV/u energies on a poly-methyl methacrylate target were evaluated at different angles. The obtained results are particularly relevant in view of the necessary optimization and review of the Treatment Planning Software being developed for clinical use of $^4$He beams in clinical routine and the relative benchmarking of Monte Carlo algorithm predictions.
- Published
- 2017
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