Search

Solid-state radiation detectors based on the visible photoluminescence of radiation-induced F2 and F3+ color centers in lithium fluoride crystals have been used for advanced diagnostics of 18 and 27 MeV proton beams, produced by the TOP-IMPLART linear accelerator, which is under development for protontherapy applications at ENEA C.R. Frascati, Italy. Visible fluorescence microscopy was successfully used to read the latent proton beam images stored in the lithium fluoride crystals, thanks to high emission efficiency of the F2 and F3+ color centers obtained by simultaneous optical excitation in the blue spectral range. High intrinsic spatial resolution and wide dynamic range of these novel LiF detectors allow obtaining two-dimensional images of both the beam transverse intensity distribution and of the Bragg curve. By using a simple defect formation model that takes into account the energy released in the material and the saturation of defect concentration, not only the two-dimensional dose map was obtained from the beam transverse intensity distribution image, but also the full Bragg curve was reconstructed, allowing the thorough characterization of proton beams produced by the accelerator.

We present the first results of a novel collaboration activity between ENEA Frascati Particle Accelerator Laboratory and University La Sapienza Guidance and Navigation Laboratory in the field of Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) for space applications. The aim of this research is twofold: (a) demonstrating the possibility to use the TOP-IMPLART proton accelerator for radiation hardness assurance testing, developing ad hoc dosimetric and operational procedures for RHA irradiations; (b) investigating system level radiation testing strategies for Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components of interest for SmallSats space missions, with focus on devices and sensors of interest for guidance, navigation and control, through simultaneous exploration of Total Ionizing Dose (TID), Displacement Damage (DD) dose and Single-Event Effects (SEE) with proton beams. A commercial 6-axis integrated Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) inertial navigation system (accelerometer, gyroscope) was selected as first Device Under Test (DUT). The results of experimental tests aimed to define an operational procedure and the characterization of radiation effects on the component are reported, highlighting the consequence of the device performance degradation in terms of the overall navigation system accuracy. Doses up to 50 krad(Si) were probed and cross sections for Single-Event Functional Interrupt (SEFI) evaluated at a proton energy of 30 MeV.

With the aim to establish advantages and limitations of techniques commonly employed for material characterization of Cultural Heritage objects, we performed comparative measurements by LIBS, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) on four typologies of materials. The samples include: 1) egg tempera pigments on gypsum ground; 2) oil paints on gypsum ground with light or dark imprimitura; 3) fragments of decorated glazed ceramic, and 4) ancient Roman coins. The optimal choice of an analytical instrument depends also on the sample type, its dimensions and transportability, and for these reasons our measurements involved two types of instruments per technique. The LIBS probing was done by a table-top instrument (on coins and ceramics) and by a stand-off system at distance of 9.5 m (on pigments). The XRF measurements involved a laboratory micro-XRF system (on coins) and a portable instrument (on pigments and ceramics). The PIXE analyses were obtained by TOP-IMPLART accelerator at ENEA Frascati, using a low energy line that produces the proton beam with adjustable energy between 3 and 7 MeV (used for the pigments and ceramics), and by INFN-LABEC system with proton energy of 3 MeV and complemented by Elastic Backscattering Spectrometry (EBS), for coin samples. Results relevant to quantitative analysis of major sample constituents, identification of trace components, and stratigraphy are reported and discussed for the examined typologies of samples.

This paper presents the experimental results on the Terapia Oncologica con Protoni-Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator (TOP-IMPLART) beam that is currently accelerated up to 35 MeV, with a final target of 150 MeV. The TOP-IMPLART project, funded by the Innovation Department of Regione Lazio (Italy), is led by Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Health and the Oncological Hospital Regina Elena-IFO. The accelerator, under construction and test at ENEA-Frascati laboratories, employs a commercial 425 MHz, 7 MeV injector followed by a sequence of 3 GHz accelerating modules consisting of side coupled drift tube linac (SCDTL) structures up to 71 MeV and coupled cavity linac structures for higher energies. The section from 7 to 35 MeV, consisting on four SCDTL modules, is powered by a single 10 MW klystron and has been successfully commissioned. This result demonstrates the feasibility of a ``fully linear'' proton therapy accelerator operating at a high frequency and paves the way to a new class of machines in the field of cancer treatment.

The Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator for Cancer Therapy (TOP-IMPLART) is under development and construction by ENEA in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Health (ISS) and the Oncological Hospital Regina Elena-IFO with financial support of Regione Lazio. Its peculiar time structure (few microseconds pulse width) and very high peak intensity (≍ 109 proton/pulse) demand for ad hoc dose delivery monitors (DDM). The TOP-IMPLART DDM is based on ionization gas chambers. One segmented chamber prototype uses Micro Pattern Gaseous Detector technology for the 2-dimensional simultaneous x/y readout; the charge collected from each active segment (strips with pad-like shape) is readout by a dedicated gain-adaptable electronics. Two small, highly sensitive, integral ionization chambers, using the same electronics, complement the 2D chamber for the monitor of the single pulse beam charge, down to 1 pC/pulse. While under development and deployment of its accelerating modular cavities, the linear TOP-IMPLART beam is improved thanks also to the continuous monitoring and characterization by these devices, whose responses are periodically compared to calibrated dosimetric detectors such as real-time active microDiamond sensor, passive Alanine pellets, intrinsically stable integral Faraday Cup. Different calibration campaigns have been recently conducted to measure the recombination and dose-rate effects on the above ionization chambers. The outcome of these measurements shows clear electron-ion recombination in the chamber active volume, largely related to the high beam intensity and its small transverse cross section. Those effects can be taken into account and used to correct the actual measurement of the DDM. In this paper, the TOP-IMPLART project and the DDM devices are shortly presented and details of the above experimental studies are discussed.

Passive solid-state radiation detectors, based on the radiophotoluminescence of stable color centers in nominally pure lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals, have been used for advanced diagnostics of the segment up to 35 MeV of the TOP-IMPLART proton linear accelerator for protontherapy applications, under development at ENEA Frascati. In LiF, proton beams generate a spatial distribution of F2 and F3+ aggregate color centers, which efficiently emit radiophotoluminescence in the red-green spectral range under optical pumping around 450 nm. LiF crystals were irradiated with 35 MeV nominal energy protons at several doses of interest for protontherapy (from 0.5 to 50 Gy). For the first time is shown here the possibility of measuring the radiophotoluminescence spectra of proton irradiated LiF even at such low doses and how the signal showed a linear behavior with dose with a good signal-to-noise ratio. A Bragg-curve image, stored as color-center distribution in a LiF crystal after a 50 Gy-dose irradiation in a particular geometry, was acquired in a conventional fluorescence microscope. After appropriate image processing, the signal intensity resulted to be proportional to the linear energy transfer along the whole Bragg curve. By best-fitting it with an ad-hoc analytical formula, the depth-dose distribution was reconstructed and the proton beam energy and energy spread were estimated.

In the framework of the Italian TOP-IMPLART project (Regione Lazio), ENEA-Frascati, ISS and IFO are developing and constructing the first proton linear accelerator based on an actively scanned beam for tumor radiotherapy with final energy of 150 MeV. An important feature of this accelerator is modularity: an exploitable beam can be delivered at any stage of its construction, which allows for immediate characterization and virtually continuous improvement of its performance. Currently, a sequence of 3 GHz accelerating modules combined with a commercial injector operating at 425 MHz delivers protons up to 35 MeV. Several dosimetry systems were used to obtain preliminary characteristics of the 35-MeV beam in terms of stability and homogeneity. Short-term stability and homogeneity better than 3% and 2.6%, respectively, were demonstrated; for stability an improvement with respect to the respective value obtained for the previous 27 MeV beam.

Purpose: To study EBT3 GafChromic film in low-energy protons, and for comparison purposes, in a reference 60Co beam in order to use it as a calibrated dosimetry system in the proton irradiation facility under construction within the framework of the Oncological Therapy with Protons (TOP)-Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator for RadioTherapy (IMPLART) Project at ENEA-Frascati, Italy. Methods: EBT3 film samples were irradiated at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare—Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, with a 5 MeV proton beam generated by a 7 MV Van de Graaff CN accelerator. The nominal dose rates used were 2.1 Gy/min and 40 Gy/min. The delivered dose was determined by measuring the particle fluence and the energy spectrum in air with silicon surface barrier detector monitors. A preliminary study of the EBT3 film beam quality dependence in low-energy protons was conducted by passively degrading the beam energy. EBT3 films were also irradiated at ENEA-National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology with gamma radiation produced by a 60Co source characterized by an absorbed dose to water rate of 0.26 Gy/min as measured by a calibrated Farmer type ionization chamber. EBT3 film calibration curves were determined by means of a set of 40 film pieces irradiated to various doses ranging from 0.5 Gy to 30 Gy absorbed dose to water. An EPSON Expression 11000XL color scanner in transmission mode was used for film analysis. Scanner response stability, intrafilm uniformity, and interfilm reproducibility were verified. Optical absorption spectra measurements were performed on unirradiated and irradiated EBT3 films to choose the most sensitive color channel to the dose range used. Results: EBT3 GafChromic films show an under response up to about 33% for low-energy protons with respect to 60Co gamma radiation, which is consistent with the linear energy transfer dependence already observed with higher energy protons, and a negligible dose-rate dependence in the 2–40 Gy/min range. Short- and long-term scanner stabilities were 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively; film uniformity and reproducibility were better than 0.5%. Conclusions: The main purpose of this study was to implement EBT3 dosimetry in the proton low-energy radiobiology line of the TOP-IMPLART accelerator, having a maximum energy of 7 MeV. Low-energy proton and 60Co calibrated sources were used to investigate the behavior of film response vs to be written in italicum dose. The calibration in 5 MeV protons is currently used for dose assessment in the radiobiological experiments at the TOP-IMPLART accelerator carried out at that energy value.

The first proton linear accelerator for tumor therapy based on an actively scanned beam up to the energy of 150 MeV, is under development and construction by ENEA-Frascati, ISS and IFO, under the Italian TOP-IMPLART project. Protons up to the energy of 7 MeV are generated by a customized commercial injector operating at 425 MHz; currently three accelerating modules allow proton delivery with energy up to 27 MeV. Beam homogeneity and reproducibility were studied using a 2D ionizing chamber, EBT3 films, a silicon diode, MOSFETs, LiF crystals and alanine dosimetry systems. Measurements were taken in air with the detectors at ~1 m from the beam line exit window. The maximum energy impinging on the detectors surface was 24.1 MeV, an energy suitable for radiobiological studies. Results showed beam reproducibility within 5% and homogeneity within 4%, on a circular surface of 16mm in diameter. © The Author(s) 2018.

Solid-state radiation detectors based on the photoluminescence of stable point defects in lithium fluoride crystals have been used for advanced diagnostics during the commissioning of the segment up to 27 MeV of the TOP-IMPLART proton linear accelerator for proton therapy applications, under development at ENEA C.R. Frascati, Italy. The LiF detectors high intrinsic spatial resolution and wide dynamic range allow obtaining two-dimensional images of the beam transverse intensity distribution and also identifying the Bragg peak position with micrometric precision by using a conventional optical fluorescence microscope. Results of the proton beam characterization, among which, the estimation of beam energy components and dynamics, are reported and discussed for different operating conditions of the accelerator. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

We report the first experiment aimed at the demonstration of low-energy protons acceleration by a high-efficiency S-band RF linear accelerator. The proton beam has been accelerated from 7 to 11.6 MeV by a 1 meter long SCDTL (Side Coupled Drift Tube Linac) module powered with 1.3 MW. The experiment has been done in the framework of the Italian TOP-IMPLART (Oncological Therapy with Protons-Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy Linear Accelerator for Radio-Therapy) project devoted to the realization of a proton therapy centre based on a proton linear accelerator for intensity modulated cancer treatments to be installed at IRE-IFO, the largest oncological hospital in Rome. It is the first proton therapy facility employing a full linear accelerator scheme based on high-frequency technology. © CopyrightEPLA, 2015.