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1. Data infrastructures for AI in medical imaging: a report on the experiences of five EU projects

Author: Haridimos Kondylakis, Varvara Kalokyri, Stelios Sfakianakis, Kostas Marias, Manolis Tsiknakis, Ana Jimenez-Pastor, Eduardo Camacho-Ramos, Ignacio Blanquer, J. Damian Segrelles, Sergio López-Huguet, Caroline Barelle, Magdalena Kogut-Czarkowska, Gianna Tsakou, Nikolaos Siopis, Zisis Sakellariou, Paschalis Bizopoulos, Vicky Drossou, Antonios Lalas, Konstantinos Votis, Pedro Mallol, Luis Marti-Bonmati, Leonor Cerdá Alberich, Karine Seymour, Samuel Boucher, Esther Ciarrocchi, Lauren Fromont, Jordi Rambla, Alexander Harms, Andrea Gutierrez, Martijn P. A. Starmans, Fred Prior, Josep Ll. Gelpi, and Karim Lekadir
Subjects: Artificial intelligence, Data anonymization, Data management, Diagnostic imaging, Neoplasms, Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine, R895-920
Abstract: Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of medical imaging and has the potential to bring medicine from the era of ‘sick-care’ to the era of healthcare and prevention. The development of AI requires access to large, complete, and harmonized real-world datasets, representative of the population, and disease diversity. However, to date, efforts are fragmented, based on single–institution, size-limited, and annotation-limited datasets. Available public datasets (e.g., The Cancer Imaging Archive, TCIA, USA) are limited in scope, making model generalizability really difficult. In this direction, five European Union projects are currently working on the development of big data infrastructures that will enable European, ethically and General Data Protection Regulation-compliant, quality-controlled, cancer-related, medical imaging platforms, in which both large-scale data and AI algorithms will coexist. The vision is to create sustainable AI cloud-based platforms for the development, implementation, verification, and validation of trustable, usable, and reliable AI models for addressing specific unmet needs regarding cancer care provision. In this paper, we present an overview of the development efforts highlighting challenges and approaches selected providing valuable feedback to future attempts in the area. Key points • Artificial intelligence models for health imaging require access to large amounts of harmonized imaging data and metadata. • Main infrastructures adopted either collect centrally anonymized data or enable access to pseudonymized distributed data. • Developing a common data model for storing all relevant information is a challenge. • Trust of data providers in data sharing initiatives is essential. • An online European Union meta-tool-repository is a necessity minimizing effort duplication for the various projects in the area.
Published: 2023
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2. Position of the AI for Health Imaging (AI4HI) network on metadata models for imaging biobanks

Author: Haridimos Kondylakis, Esther Ciarrocchi, Leonor Cerda-Alberich, Ioanna Chouvarda, Lauren A. Fromont, Jose Manuel Garcia-Aznar, Varvara Kalokyri, Alexandra Kosvyra, Dawn Walker, Guang Yang, Emanuele Neri, and the AI4HealthImaging Working Group on metadata models
Subjects: Artificial intelligence, Diagnostic imaging, Metadata, Radiomics, Radiation therapy, Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine, R895-920
Abstract: Abstract A huge amount of imaging data is becoming available worldwide and an incredible range of possible improvements can be provided by artificial intelligence algorithms in clinical care for diagnosis and decision support. In this context, it has become essential to properly manage and handle these medical images and to define which metadata have to be considered, in order for the images to provide their full potential. Metadata are additional data associated with the images, which provide a complete description of the image acquisition, curation, analysis, and of the relevant clinical variables associated with the images. Currently, several data models are available to describe one or more subcategories of metadata, but a unique, common, and standard data model capable of fully representing the heterogeneity of medical metadata has not been yet developed. This paper reports the state of the art on metadata models for medical imaging, the current limitations and further developments, and describes the strategy adopted by the Horizon 2020 “AI for Health Imaging” projects, which are all dedicated to the creation of imaging biobanks.
Published: 2022
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3. In-vitro Study for Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging Application in Hepatic Metastasectomy

Author: Esther Ciarrocchi, Sara Saponaro, Francesco Bartoli, Angela Gabriella Cataldi, Sara Vitali, Paola Anna Erba, and Nicola Belcari
Subjects: cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI), image-guided surgery (IGS), margin assessment, detection limit, liver, Physics, QC1-999
Abstract: Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) has been recently proposed as a method to visualize surgical margins in the operating theater, immediately after resection, to allow refining surgery in a single procedure. Our group is preparing a pilot clinical study to evaluate the impact of CLI during hepatic metastasectomy, using 18F-FDG and 68Ga-DOTATOC. Currently, we are optimizing the clinical protocol in terms of patient inclusion criteria, activity to inject, maximum allowed delay for imaging, and radiation monitoring. This paper describes a preliminary study we have performed to define the clinical protocol. The study is composed of two branches: 1) an in-vitro study to predict the typical signals and optical attenuation in the liver with 18F and 68Ga, 2) an analysis of clinical PET/CT data to determine typical values of relevant parameters, such as uptake and lesion dimension. The combined information by these two branches gives us an indication of the feasibility of CLI for margin assessment in liver metastasectomy. For 68Ga, we obtained detection limits ranging from 0.55 to 3.5 kBq/cc, to be compared with minimum and mean clinical uptakes of 1.6 and 7 kBq/cc, respectively. For 18F, the detection limits ranged from 12 to 145 kBq/cc, and the minimum and mean clinical uptakes were 5 and 11 kBq/cc, respectively. From these values, we expect CLI with 68Ga to be able to detect surgical margins in most patients, while with 18F the activities to inject for sufficient signal-to-noise ratio should be larger than standards, or the time delay between injection and imaging largely reduced. The results reported here can be useful also more in general, for studies dedicated to other CLI applications in the liver.
Published: 2021
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4. Data Models for an Imaging Bio-bank for Colorectal, Prostate and Gastric Cancer: the NAVIGATOR Project.

Author: Andrea Berti, Gianluca Carloni, Sara Colantonio, Maria Antonietta Pascali, Paolo Manghi, Pasquale Pagano, Rossana Buongiorno, Eva Pachetti, Claudia Caudai, Domenico Di Gangi, Emanuele Carlini, Zeno Falaschi, Esther Ciarrocchi, Emanuele Neri, Elena Bertelli, Vittorio Miele, Roberto Carpi, Giulio Bagnacci, Nunzia Di Meglio, M. Antonietta Mazzei, and Andrea Barucci 0001
Published: 2022
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5. The Drift Chamber detector of the FOOT experiment: Performance analysis and external calibration

Author: Dong, Yunsheng, Gianluigi, Silvestre, Sofia, Colombi, Andrey, Alexandrov, Behcet, Alpat, Giovanni, Ambrosi, Stefano, Argirò, Arteche Diaz, Raul, Mattia, Barbanera, Nazar, Bartosik, Nicola, Belcari, Elettra, Bellinzona, Silvia, Biondi, Bisogni, Maria Giuseppina, Graziano, Bruni, Pietro, Carra, Piergiorgio, Cerello, Esther, Ciarrocchi, Alberto, Clozza, De Lellis, Giovanni, Del Guerra, Alberto, De Simoni, Micol, Di Crescenzo, Antonia, Di Ruzza, Benedetto, Marco, Donetti, Marco, Durante, Veronica, Ferrero, Emanuele, Fiandrini, Christian, Finck, Elisa, Fiorina, Marta, Fischetti, Marco, Francesconi, Matteo, Franchini, Gaia, Franciosini, Giuliana, Galati, Luca, Galli, Valerio, Gentile, Giuseppe, Giraudo, Ronja, Hetzel, Enzo, Iarocci, Maria, Ionica, Keida, Kanxheri, Kraan, Aafke Christine, Valeria, Lante, La Tessa, Chiara, Martina, Laurenza, Adele, Lauria, Lopez Torres, Ernesto, Michela, Marafini, Cristian, Massimi, Ilaria, Mattei, Alberto, Mengarelli, Andrea, Moggi, Montesi, Maria Cristina, Morone, Maria Cristina, Matteo, Morrocchi, Silvia, Muraro, Livio, Narici, Alessandra, Pastore, Nadia, Pastrone, Patera, Vincenzo, Francesco, Pennazio, Pisana, Placidi, Marco, Pullia, Fabrizio, Raffaelli, Luciano, Ramello, Riccardo, Ridolfi, Valeria, Rosso, Claudio, Sanelli, Alessio, Sarti, Gabriella, Sartorelli, Osamu, Sato, Simone, Savazzi, Lorenzo, Scavarda, Angelo, Schiavi, Christoph, Schuy, Emanuele, Scifoni, Adalberto, Sciubba, Alexandre, Sécher, Marco, Selvi, Mario, Sitta, Roberto, Spighi, Eleuterio, Spiriti, Giancarlo, Sportelli, Achim, Stahl, Sandro, Tomassini, Marco, Toppi, Giacomo, Traini, Tioukov, Valeri, Valle, Serena Marta, Vanstalle, Marie, Villa, Mauro, Ulrich, Weber, Antonio, Zoccoli, Battistoni, Giuseppe, Servoli, Leonello, and Tommasino, Francesco
Published: 2021
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6. Performance Evaluation of the TOF-Wall Detector of the FOOT Experiment

Author: R. Mirabelli, Esther Ciarrocchi, Nicola Belcari, A.C. Kraan, Marco Francesconi, Matteo Morrocchi, Alberto Del Guerra, Giancarlo Sportelli, P. Carra, Sandro Bianucci, M. Pullia, Alessio Sarti, Andrea Moggi, Giacomo Traini, Silvia Muraro, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, Niccolò Camarlinghi, M. Fischetti, Micol De Simoni, Valeria Rosso, Alessandro Profeti, L. Galli, and Roberto Zarrella
Subjects: Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Materials science, Proton, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Scintillator, 01 natural sciences, Bars, Carbon, Charged Particle Therapy, Detectors, Ions, Nuclear Fragmentation, Particle beams, Plastic scintillator, Plastics, Scintillators, Silicon Photomultiplier, Time of Flight, Ion, Silicon photomultiplier, 0103 physical sciences, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nuclear Experiment, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Detector, Charged particle, Nuclear Energy and Engineering, Atomic physics, Energy (signal processing), Beam (structure)
Abstract: The correct quantification of the dose released in charged particle therapy treatments requires the knowledge of the double differential fragmentation cross section of particles composing both the beam and the target. The FragmentatiOn Of Target (FOOT) experiment aims at measuring these cross sections for ions of interest for charged particle therapy applications. This article describes the performance of the time-of-flight (TOF)-wall detector of the experiment. The detector is composed of two layers of 44 cm $\times 2$ cm $\times 3$ mm plastic scintillator bars (20 for each layer), arranged orthogonally and read-out by silicon photomultipliers. The detector is designed to identify the charge of fragments ranging from protons to oxygen ions, with a maximum energy of 700 MeV/u, by measuring the energy released in the scintillators and the TOF with respect to a start counter. In this study, the detector was scanned with carbon ions of energy between 115 and 400 MeV/u and with a 60-MeV proton beam. The measurements show an energy resolution ( $\sigma _{E}/\mu _{E}$ ) between 6% and 4% and a contribution of the detector to the TOF system time resolution between 25 and 20 ps (standard deviation) for carbon ions and between 100 and 80 ps for protons.
Published: 2021
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7. Experimental characterization and Monte Carlo simulation of scintillator detectors in online electron FLASH radiotherapy dosimetry

Author: Matteo Morrocchi, Jake Harold Pensavalle, Esther Ciarrocchi, Fabio Di Martino, Giuseppe Felici, Federica Galante, Alessia Gasparini, Luigi Grasso, Stefania Linsalata, Maurizio Massa, Andrea Moggi, Matteo Pacitti, Verdi Vanreusel, Dirk Verellen, and Maria Giuseppina Bisogni
Subjects: Physics, Instrumentation, Mathematical Physics
Abstract: Radiotherapy (RT) is a fundamental tool in cancer treatment. Recent technological advances improved considerably radiotherapy techniques, allowing to obtain more precise, effective and most importantly safer treatments. However, RT is not without risks. Ionizing radiation also injures healthy cells, and there is a limit to the amount of radiation an area of the body can safely receive over the course of a lifetime. A new delivery method, called FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) has shown very promising results in in vivo studies, where a significant increase in healthy tissue sparing (FLASH effect) was observed. FLASH-RT consists in delivering the ionizing radiation therapy at dose rates much higher than the ones used in conventional radiotherapy (CONV-RT). Because of the novelty of this method, every aspect of FLASH-RT is under study, such as how the FLASH effect depends on therapy delivery parameters and what exactly are the underlining biological mechanisms. Nonetheless, dosimetry presents a challenge to overcome. The high dose rates cause significant saturation problems which render standard dosimetric equipment inadequate. Therefore, the development of online (active) dosimeters is a priority. In the short term this technology enables more efficient measurements in the experimental context, since it gives immediate feedback. In the long term it provides the basis for future studies on dosimetry in clinical practice. In this work we show the construction and characterization of online FLASH dosimeters based on scintillator materials used in integrating-mode. A GEANT4 based Monte Carlo simulation code is specifically developed to calculate the medium-equivalence correction. The simulation is validated with experimental measurements obtained with a full-fledged FLASH linear accelerator, which produces electron pulsed beams at very high dose per pulse. Measurements suggest that the proposed dosimeters have a linear response in a wide range of dose per pulse values up to 6 Gy/p, while moderate saturation can be observed up to 12.5 Gy/p.
Published: 2022

8. Position of the AI for Health Imaging (AI4HI) network on metadata models for imaging biobanks

Author: Haridimos, Kondylakis, Esther, Ciarrocchi, Leonor, Cerda-Alberich, Ioanna, Chouvarda, Lauren A, Fromont, Jose Manuel, Garcia-Aznar, Varvara, Kalokyri, Alexandra, Kosvyra, Dawn, Walker, Guang, Yang, and Emanuele, Neri
Subjects: Diagnostic Imaging, Metadata, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms, Biological Specimen Banks
Abstract: A huge amount of imaging data is becoming available worldwide and an incredible range of possible improvements can be provided by artificial intelligence algorithms in clinical care for diagnosis and decision support. In this context, it has become essential to properly manage and handle these medical images and to define which metadata have to be considered, in order for the images to provide their full potential. Metadata are additional data associated with the images, which provide a complete description of the image acquisition, curation, analysis, and of the relevant clinical variables associated with the images. Currently, several data models are available to describe one or more subcategories of metadata, but a unique, common, and standard data model capable of fully representing the heterogeneity of medical metadata has not been yet developed. This paper reports the state of the art on metadata models for medical imaging, the current limitations and further developments, and describes the strategy adopted by the Horizon 2020 "AI for Health Imaging" projects, which are all dedicated to the creation of imaging biobanks.
Published: 2021

9. A neural network-based algorithm for simultaneous event positioning and timestamping in monolithic scintillators

Author: Pietro Carra, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, Esther Ciarrocchi, Matteo Morrocchi, Giancarlo Sportelli, Valeria Rosso, and Nicola Belcari
Subjects: Radiological and Ultrasound Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Positron-Emission Tomography, Scintillation Counting, Computer Simulation, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, Neural Networks, Computer, Algorithms
Abstract: Objective. Monolithic scintillator crystals coupled to silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays are promising detectors for PET applications, offering spatial resolution around 1 mm and depth-of-interaction information. However, their timing resolution has always been inferior to that of pixellated crystals, while the best results on spatial resolution have been obtained with algorithms that cannot operate in real-time in a PET detector. In this study, we explore the capabilities of monolithic crystals with respect to spatial and timing resolution, presenting new algorithms that overcome the mentioned problems. Approach. Our algorithms were tested first using a simulation framework, then on experimentally acquired data. We tested an event timestamping algorithm based on neural networks which was then integrated into a second neural network for simultaneous estimation of the event position and timestamp. Both algorithms are implemented in a low-cost field-programmable gate array that can be integrated in the detector and can process more than 1 million events per second in real-time. Results. Testing the neural network for the simultaneous estimation of the event position and timestamp on experimental data we obtain 0.78 2D FWHM on the (x, y) plane, 1.2 depth-of-interaction FWHM and 156 coincidence time resolution on a 25 mm × 25 mm × 8 mm × LYSO monolith read-out by 64 3 mm × 3 mm Hamamatsu SiPMs. Significance. Our results show that monolithic crystals combined with artificial intelligence can rival pixellated crystals performance for time-of-flight PET applications, while having better spatial resolution and DOI resolution. Thanks to the use of very light neural networks, event characterization can be done on-line directly in the detector, solving the issues of scalability and computational complexity that up to now were preventing the use of monolithic crystals in clinical PET scanners.
Published: 2022
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10. Charge identification of fragments with the emulsion spectrometer of the FOOT experiment

Author: Maria Ionica, Eleuterio Spiriti, P. Carra, N. Bartosik, L. Scavarda, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, G. Silvestre, Alberto Del Guerra, Giovanni Ambrosi, Valeri Tioukov, Maria Cristina Montesi, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, Nadia Pastrone, Alberto Clozza, S. Savazzi, M. Pullia, Alessandra Pastore, Antonio Zoccoli, M. Vanstalle, A. Moggi, E. Bellinzona, V. Lante, Elisa Fiorina, Antonia Di Crescenzo, A. Secher, Ilaria Mattei, Stefano Argiro, Giovanni De Lellis, Antonio Iuliano, Giuliana Galati, Chiara La Tessa, V. Gentile, Gaia Franciosini, Matteo Morrocchi, Luciano Ramello, R. Ridolfi, Giacomo Traini, Silvia Muraro, M. Selvi, Francesco Pennazio, Marco Francesconi, Michela Marafini, Alessio Sarti, A.C. Kraan, Marco Durante, M. Toppi, Pisana Placidi, S. Colombi, F. Raffaelli, C. Finck, Andrey Alexandrov, Christoph Schuy, Valeria Rosso, Adalberto Sciubba, Keida Kanxheri, Behcet Alpat, Nicola Belcari, Leonello Servoli, Sandro Tomassini, Achim Stahl, Angelo Schiavi, Giancarlo Sportelli, Ulrich Weber, Benedetto Di Ruzza, Luca Galli, R. Spighi, E. Iarocci, Martina Laurenza, Roberto Zarrella, Graziano Bruni, Raul Arteche Diaz, S. M. Valle, Y. Dong, Veronica Ferrero, R. Hetzel, Riccardo Faccini, Ernesto Lopez Torres, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Mario Sitta, M. Fischetti, Micol De Simoni, E. Scifoni, M. C. Morone, Giuseppe Giraudo, Marco Donetti, Gabriella Sartorelli, Vincenzo Patera, Federica Murtas, Alberto Mengarelli, Francesco Tommasino, E. Fiandrini, Esther Ciarrocchi, Mauro Villa, Matteo Franchini, Piergiorgio Cerello, Cristian Massimi, C. Sanelli, Galati G., Alexandrov A., Alpat B., Ambrosi G., Argiro S., Diaz R.A., Bartosik N., Battistoni G., Belcari N., Bellinzona E., Biondi S., Bisogni M.G., Bruni G., Carra P., Cerello P., Ciarrocchi E., Clozza A., Colombi S., Guerra A.D., Simoni M.D., Di Crescenzo A., Ruzza B.D., Donetti M., Dong Y., Durante M., Faccini R., Ferrero V., Fiandrini E., Finck C., Fiorina E., Fischetti M., Francesconi M., Franchini M., Franciosini G., Galli L., Gentile V., Giraudo G., Hetzel R., Iarocci E., Ionica M., Iuliano A., Kanxheri K., Kraan A.C., Lante V., Tessa C.L., Laurenza M., Lauria A., Torres E.L., Marafini M., Massimi C., Mattei I., Mengarelli A., Moggi A., Montesi M.C., Morone M.C., Morrocchi M., Muraro S., Murtas F., Pastore A., Pastrone N., Patera V., Pennazio F., Placidi P., Pullia M., Raffaelli F., Ramello L., Ridolfi R., Rosso V., Sanelli C., Sarti A., Sartorelli G., Sato O., Savazzi S., Scavarda L., Schiavi A., Schuy C., Scifoni E., Sciubba A., Secher A., Selvi M., Servoli L., Silvestre G., Sitta M., Spighi R., Spiriti E., Sportelli G., Stahl A., Tioukov V., Tomassini S., Tommasino F., Toppi M., Traini G., Valle S.M., Vanstalle M., Villa M., Weber U., Zarrella R., Zoccoli A., De Lellis G., De Lellis, Giovanni, Di Crescenzo, Antonia, Montesi, Maria Cristina, Lauria, Adele, Iuliano, Antonio, and Durante, Marco
Subjects: Materials science, Spectrometer, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Physics, QC1-999, Settore FIS/07, Analytical chemistry, General Physics and Astronomy, Charge (physics), 01 natural sciences, Fragmentation (mass spectrometry), particle therapy, nuclear emulsion, fragmentation, 0103 physical sciences, Emulsion, ddc:530, Nuclear emulsion, Nuclear Experiment, 010306 general physics
Abstract: Open physics 19(1), 383 - 394 (2021). doi:10.1515/phys-2021-0032, Published by de Gruyter, Berlin
Published: 2021
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11. Measurement of 12C Fragmentation Cross Sections on C, O, and H in the Energy Range of Interest for Particle Therapy Applications

Author: E. Spiriti, P. Cerello, G. De Lellis, Alberto Mengarelli, Angelo Schiavi, M. Francesconi, Nicola Belcari, L. Scavarda, E. Iarocci, F. Ferroni, C. La Tessa, Sandro Tomassini, Cristian Massimi, Giancarlo Sportelli, R. Ridolfi, Nadia Pastrone, A. Embriaco, P. Carra, M. Pullia, G. Silvestre, Silvia Muraro, Giacomo Traini, M. Marafini, M. Emde, S. Colombi, E. Catanzani, G. Ambrosi, A. Di Crescenzo, C. Sanelli, Francesco Tommasino, Francesco Pennazio, Y. Dong, Leonello Servoli, R. Mirabelli, M. Rovituso, Alberto Clozza, S. Savazzi, C. Schuy, Alessio Sarti, A. Del Guerra, Luca Galli, C. Finck, Matteo Franchini, E. Fiandrini, A. Alexandrov, S. M. Valle, M. Ionica, R. Hetzel, Sebastian Hild, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Esther Ciarrocchi, Valeria Rosso, Mario Sitta, Maria Cristina Montesi, R. Faccini, A. Stahl, Antonio Zoccoli, V. Lante, Elisa Fiorina, M. Vanstalle, Vincenzo Patera, A. Secher, A. Sciubba, M. Fischetti, M. De Simoni, E. Scifoni, N. Bartosik, Graziano Bruni, Luciano Ramello, M. Selvi, Stefano Argiro, M. C. Morone, A. C. Kraan, Niccolò Camarlinghi, Mauro Villa, L. Alunni Solestizi, K. Kanxheri, Ilaria Mattei, Matteo Morrocchi, V. Gentile, Veronica Ferrero, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, M. Donetti, M. Toppi, Pisana Placidi, R. Spighi, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, Marco Durante, G. Sartorelli, Ulrich Weber, Alessandro Pastore, T. Valeri, E. Lopez Torres, L. Narici, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia (INFN, Sezione di Perugia), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Politecnico di Torino = Polytechnic of Turin (Polito), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare [Pisa] (INFN), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Département d'Astrophysique, de physique des Particules, de physique Nucléaire et de l'Instrumentation Associée (DAPNIA), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Département Recherches Subatomiques (DRS-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Ferrara (UniFE), Department of Materials [ETH Zürich] (D-MATL), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] (ETH Zürich), Biophysics Department [Darmstadt], Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI), Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Bologna, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna (INFN, Sezione di Bologna), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)-Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), University of York [York, UK], Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome], Dipartimento di Energetica, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, Italy, Mattei, I., Bisogni, M. G., Bruni, G., Camarlinghi, N., Carra, P., Catanzani, E., Ciarrocchi, E., Cerello, P., Clozza, A., Colombi, S., De Lellis, G., Alexandrov, A., Del Guerra, A., De Simoni, M., Di Crescenzo, A., Donetti, M., Dong, Y., Durante, M., Embriaco, A., Emde, M., Faccini, R., Ferrero, V., Alunni Solestizi, L., Ferroni, F., Fiandrini, E., Finck, C., Fiorina, E., Fischetti, M., Francesconi, M., Franchini, M., Galli, L., Gentile, V., Hetzel, R., Ambrosi, G., Hild, S., Iarocci, E., Ionica, M., Kanxheri, K., Kraan, A. C., Lante, V., Lauria, A., La Tessa, C., Lopez Torres, E., Massimi, C., Argiro, S., Marafini, M., Mengarelli, A., Mirabelli, R., Montesi, M. C., Morone, M. C., Morrocchi, M., Muraro, S., Narici, L., Pastore, A., Pastrone, N., Bartosik, N., Patera, V., Pennazio, F., Placidi, P., Pullia, M., Ramello, L., Ridolfi, R., Rosso, V., Rovituso, M., Sanelli, C., Sartorelli, G., Battistoni, G., Sato, O., Savazzi, S., Scavarda, L., Schiavi, A., Schuy, C., Scifoni, E., Sciubba, A., Secher, A., Selvi, M., Servoli, L., Belcari, N., Silvestre, G., Sitta, M., Spighi, R., Spiriti, E., Sportelli, G., Stahl, A., Tomassini, S., Tommasino, F., Traini, G., Toppi, M., Biondi, S., Valeri, T., Valle, S. M., Vanstalle, M., Villa, M., Weber, U., Zoccoli, A., Sarti, A., Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara (UniFE), Dipartimento di Fisica [Bologna], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), and Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome] (UNIROMA)
Subjects: Materials science, Proton, Radiation therapy clinical/preclinical evaluation/application studies, Analytical chemistry, Scintillator, scintillators radiation detector, Kinetic energy, 01 natural sciences, Particle identification, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Radiation therapy studie, 0103 physical sciences, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, 010306 general physics, Instrumentation, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Range (particle radiation), Settore FIS/04, scintillators radiation detectors for medical applications, Settore FIS/07, Center (category theory), therapy imaging clinical/preclinical evaluation/application studies, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Charged particle, Deuterium, [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-MED-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Medical Physics [physics.med-ph], therapy imaging
Abstract: In a carbon ion treatment the nuclear fragmentationof both target and beam projectiles impacts on the dose releasedon the tumor and on the surrounding healthy tissues. Carbon ionfragmentation occurring inside the patient body has to be stud-ied in order to take into account this contribution. These dataare also important for the development of the range monitoringtechniques with charged particles. The production of chargedfragments generated by carbon ion beams of 115-353 MeV/ukinetic energy impinging on carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen tar-gets has been measured at the CNAO particle therapy center(Pavia, Italy). The use of thin targets of graphite (C), PMMA(C2O5H8) and polyvinyl-toluene [plastic scintillator (PS), CbHa]allowed to measure fragments production cross sections, exploit-ing a time-of-flight (ToF) technique. PS detectors have been usedto perform the ToF measurements, while LYSO crystals havebeen used for the deposited energy measurement and to performparticle identification. Cross sections have been measured at 90◦and 60◦with respect to the beam direction. The measured pro-ton, deuteron, and triton differential production cross sectionson C, O, and H, obtained exploiting the target subtraction strat-egy, are presented here as a function of the fragment kineticenergy.
Published: 2020
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12. FOOT: a new experiment to measure nuclear fragmentation at intermediate energies

Author: M. Pullia, E. Iarocci, Nadia Pastrone, C. La Tessa, M. Emde, M. Rovituso, Alberto Clozza, C. Sanelli, M. C. Morone, A. Di Crescenzo, G. Ambrosi, L. Narici, Giancarlo Sportelli, Veronica Ferrero, Francesco Tommasino, Matteo Franchini, Maria Cristina Montesi, M. Ionica, Stefano Argiro, Niccolò Camarlinghi, R. Faccini, Mauro Villa, Gabriella Sartorelli, Antonio Zoccoli, L. Galli, M. Vanstalle, K. Kanxheri, Christoph Schuy, Esther Ciarrocchi, Vincenzo Patera, A. Sciubba, Marco Durante, Valeria Rosso, M. Selvi, Ilaria Mattei, M. Sitta, M. Garbini, Uli Weber, Matteo Morrocchi, Giacomo Traini, Marco Francesconi, Piergiorgio Cerello, Eleuterio Spiriti, Nicola Belcari, S. Brambilla, L. Ramello, R. Hetzel, C. Finck, Andrey Alexandrov, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, M. Marafini, Giuseppe Giraudo, R. Mirabelli, R. Spighi, F. Ferroni, Silvia Muraro, Leonello Servoli, Achim Stahl, S. M. Valle, G. De Lellis, Graziano Bruni, Angelo Schiavi, Alessio Sarti, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, E. Scifoni, Alessandra Pastore, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Valle, S.M., Alexandrov, A., Ambrosi, G., Argirò, S., Battistoni, G., Belcari, N., Biondi, S., Bisogni, M.G., Bruni, G., Brambilla, S., Camarlinghi, N., Cerello, P., Ciarrocchi, E., Clozza, A., De Lellis, G., Di Crescenzo, A., Durante, M., Emde, M., Faccini, R., Ferrero, V., Ferroni, F., Finck, C., Francesconi, M., Franchini, M., Galli, L., Garbini, M., Giraudo, G., Hetzel, R., Iarocci, E., Ionica, M., Kanxheri, K., Lauria, A., La Tessa, C., Marafini, M., Mattei, I., Mirabelli, R., Montesi, M.C., Morone, M.C., Morrocchi, M., Muraro, S., Narici, L., Pastore, A., Pastrone, N., Patera, V., Pullia, M., Ramello, L., Rosso, V., Rovituso, M., Sanelli, C., Sarti, A., Sartorelli, G., Sato, O., Schiavi, A., Schuy, C., Scifoni, E., Sciubba, A., Selvi, M., Servoli, L., Sitta, M., Spighi, R., Spiriti, E., Sportelli, G., Stahl, A., Tommasino, F., Traini, G., Vanstalle, M., Villa, M., Weber, U., Zoccoli, A., Valle, S. M., Bisogni, M. G., Montesi, M. C., and Morone, M. C.
Subjects: Materials science, Tracking detector, medicine.medical_treatment, Quantitative Biology::Tissues and Organs, Physics::Medical Physics, Bragg peak, Scintillator, [PHYS.NEXP]Physics [physics]/Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex], 01 natural sciences, Nuclear physics, Fragmentation (mass spectrometry), Hadrontherapy, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, lcsh:Science, lcsh:Science (General), 010306 general physics, Nuclear Experiment, Particle therapy, cross section, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Projectile, Settore FIS/04, Settore FIS/07, Nuclear fragmentation, Scintillating detectors, Charged particle, Time of flight, Physics::Accelerator Physics, lcsh:Q, Beam (structure), lcsh:Q1-390
Abstract: Summary: Charged particle therapy exploits proton or 12C beams to treat deep-seated solid tumors. Due to the advantageous characteristics of charged particles energy deposition in matter, the maximum of the dose is released to the tumor at the end of the beam range, in the Bragg peak region. However, the beam nuclear interactions with the patient tissues induces fragmentation both of projectile and target nuclei and needs to be carefully taken into account. In proton treatments, target fragmentation produces low energy, short range fragments along all the beam range, which deposit a non negligible dose in the entry channel. In 12C treatments the main concern is represented by long range fragments due to beam fragmentation that release their dose in the healthy tissues beyond the tumor. The FOOT experiment (FragmentatiOn Of Target) of INFN is designed to study these processes, in order to improve the nuclear fragmentation description in next generation Treatment Planning Systems and the treatment plans quality. Target (16O and 12C nuclei) fragmentation induced by –proton beams at therapeutic energies will be studied via an inverse kinematic approach, where 16O and 12C therapeutic beams impinge on graphite and hydrocarbon targets to provide the nuclear fragmentation cross section on hydrogen. Projectile fragmentation of 16O and 12C beams will be explored as well. The FOOT detector includes a magnetic spectrometer for the fragments momentum measurement, a plastic scintillator for ΔE and time of flight measurements and a crystal calorimeter to measure the fragments kinetic energy. These measurements will be combined in order to make an accurate fragment charge and isotopic identification. Keywords: Hadrontherapy, Nuclear fragmentation cross sections, Tracking detectors, Scintillating detectors
Published: 2019
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13. Development and characterization of a ΔE-TOF detector prototype for the FOOT experiment

Author: R. Hetzel, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Alessandra Pastore, M. Pullia, Marco Francesconi, Giovanni De Lellis, M. C. Morone, Pisana Placidi, Giuseppe Giraudo, Mario Sitta, Alberto Mengarelli, Graziano Bruni, Nicola Belcari, Adalberto Sciubba, E. Fiandrini, Niccolò Camarlinghi, A.C. Kraan, S. Colombi, Esther Ciarrocchi, Maria Ionica, A. Embriaco, Eleuterio Spiriti, Nadia Pastrone, Livio Narici, N. Bartosik, Alberto Del Guerra, Christoph Schuy, Sebastian Hild, P. Carra, L. Scavarda, M. Selvi, V. Lante, Elisa Fiorina, G. Silvestre, Sandro Tomassini, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, Behcet Alpat, Stefano Argiro, Marco Durante, Valeria Rosso, Giancarlo Sportelli, M. G. Bisogni, F. Ferroni, M. Emde, Ulrich Weber, R. Mirabelli, Veronica Ferrero, Francesco Pennazio, Keida Kanxheri, G. Ambrosi, M. Garbini, Valeri Tioukov, Alessio Sarti, R. Ridolfi, Giacomo Traini, Leonello Servoli, Achim Stahl, M. Fischetti, Raul Arteche Diaz, Silvia Muraro, S. M. Valle, Antonia Di Crescenzo, Micol De Simoni, M. Rovituso, Chiara La Tessa, C. Finck, Matteo Bertazzoni, Andrey Alexandrov, Alberto Clozza, S. Savazzi, Y. Dong, E. Scifoni, V. Gentile, Ilaria Mattei, Marco Donetti, Gabriella Sartorelli, Matteo Morrocchi, M. Villa, Vincenzo Patera, Luciano Ramello, A. Schiavi, Roberto Spighi, Piergiorgio Cerello, L. Galli, C. Sanelli, Maria Cristina Montesi, Riccardo Faccini, M. Marafini, Ernesto Lopez Torres, Antonio Zoccoli, M. Vanstalle, Francesco Tommasino, Matteo Franchini, Morrocchi, Matteo, Ciarrocchi, Esther, Alexandrov, Andrey, Alpat, Behcet, Ambrosi, Giovanni, Argirò, Stefano, Arteche Diaz, Raul, Bartosik, Nazar, Battistoni, Giuseppe, Belcari, Nicola, Bertazzoni, Matteo, Biondi, Silvia, Bruni, Graziano, Camarlinghi, Niccolò, Carra, Pietro, Cerello, Piergiorgio, Clozza, Alberto, Colombi, Sofia, De Lellis, Giovanni, Del Guerra, Alberto, Simoni, Micol De, Crescenzo, Antonia Di, Donetti, Marco, Dong, Yunsheng, Durante, Marco, Embriaco, Alessia, Emde, Max, Faccini, Riccardo, Ferrero, Veronica, Ferroni, Fernando, Fiandrini, Emanuele, Finck, Christian, Fiorina, Elisa, Fischetti, Marta, Francesconi, Marco, Franchini, Matteo, Galli, Luca, Garbini, Marco, Gentile, Valerio, Giraudo, Giuseppe, Hetzel, Ronja, Hild, Sebastian, Ionica, Maria, Kanxheri, Keida, Kraan, Aafke Christine, Lante, Valeria, Lauria, Adele, La Tessa, Chiara, Lopez Torres, Ernesto, Marafini, Michela, Mattei, Ilaria, Mengarelli, Alberto, Mirabelli, Riccardo, Montesi, Maria Cristina, Morone, Maria Cristina, Muraro, Silvia, Narici, Livio, Pastore, Alessandra, Pastrone, Nadia, Patera, Vincenzo, Pennazio, Francesco, Placidi, Pisana, Pullia, Marco, Ramello, Luciano, Ridolfi, Riccardo, Rosso, Valeria, Rovituso, Marta, Sanelli, Claudio, Sarti, Alessio, Sartorelli, Gabriella, Sato, Osamu, Savazzi, Simone, Scavarda, Lorenzo, Schiavi, Angelo, Schuy, Christoph, Scifoni, Emanuele, Sciubba, Adalberto, Selvi, Marco, Servoli, Leonello, Silvestre, Gianluigi, Sitta, Mario, Spighi, Roberto, Spiriti, Eleuterio, Sportelli, Giancarlo, Stahl, Achim, Tomassini, Sandro, Tommasino, Francesco, Traini, Giacomo, Tioukov, Valeri, Valle, Serena Marta, Vanstalle, Marie, Villa, Mauro, Weber, Ulrich, Zoccoli, Antonio, Bisogni, Maria Giuseppina, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano (INFN), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Département de Radiobiologie, Hadronthérapie et Imagerie Moléculaire (DRHIM-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik (MPQ), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia (INFN, Sezione di Perugia), Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering, Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome], INFN Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare [Frascati], Dipartimento di Scienze di Base e Applicate per l'Ingegneria (SBAI), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), and UITP
Subjects: Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Particle therapy, Particle detectors, Particle detectors Particle therapy Plastic scintillator Silicon photomultiplier, Scintillator, Silicon photomultiplier, Kinetic energy, 01 natural sciences, Ion, Settore FIS/04 - Fisica Nucleare e Subnucleare, Optics, 0103 physical sciences, Plastic scintillator, Instrumentation, Irradiation, 010306 general physics, Image resolution, Particle detectors, Particle therapy, Plastic scintillator, Silicon photomultiplier, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, business.industry, Detector, Settore FIS/07 - Fisica Applicata(Beni Culturali, Ambientali, Biol.e Medicin), Time of flight, High Energy Physics::Experiment, business
Abstract: This paper describes the development and characterization of a Δ E-TOF detector composed of a plastic scintillator bar coupled at both ends to silicon photomultipliers. This detector is a prototype of a larger version which will be used in the FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment to identify the fragments produced by ion beams accelerated onto a hydrogen-enriched target. The final Δ E-TOF detector will be composed of two layers of plastic scintillator bars with orthogonal orientation and will measure, for each crossing fragment, the energy deposited in the plastic scintillator ( Δ E), the time of flight (TOF), and the coordinates of the interaction position in the scintillator. To meet the FOOT experimental requirements, the detector should have energy resolution of a few percents and time resolution of 70 ps, and it should allow to discriminate multiple fragments belonging to the same event. To evaluate the achievable performances, the detector prototype was irradiated with protons of kinetic energy in the 70–230 MeV range and interacting at several positions along the bar. The measured energy resolution σ Δ E ∕ Δ E was 6–14%, after subtracting the fluctuations of the deposited energy. A time resolution σ between 120 and 180 ps was obtained with respect to a trigger detector. A spatial resolution σ of 1.9 cm was obtained for protons interacting at the center of the bar.
Published: 2019
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14. THE FOOT EXPERIMENT: FRAGMENTATION MEASUREMENTS IN PARTICLE THERAPY

Author: E. Bellinzona, Nadia Pastrone, Alessandro Pastore, E. López Torres, M. Selvi, L. Alunni Solestizi, Pisana Placidi, E. Iarocci, F. Ferroni, Silvia Muraro, C. La Tessa, M. C. Morone, E. Spiriti, M. Ionica, P. Cerello, Y. Dong, R. Arteche Diaz, A. Zoccoli, A. Secher, Giuliana Galati, V. Lante, Elisa Fiorina, Christoph Schuy, M. De Simoni, M. Vanstalle, Luciano Ramello, K. Kanxheri, Stefano Argiro, S. M. Valle, M. Donetti, M. Garbini, A. C. Kraan, R. Ridolfi, Alberto Mengarelli, Marco Durante, N. Bartosik, A. Moggi, Valeria Rosso, M. Emde, Giacomo Traini, Angelo Schiavi, F. Raffaeli, Niccolò Camarlinghi, M. Pullia, M. Francesconi, G. De Lellis, L. Scavarda, M. Franchini, Mario Sitta, M. Villa, E. Fiandrini, M. Rovituso, Ilaria Mattei, R. Faccini, Alberto Clozza, S. Savazzi, Gabriella Sartorelli, Graziano Bruni, Matteo Morrocchi, Esther Ciarrocchi, Vincenzo Patera, A. Di Crescenzo, A. Sciubba, A. Del Guerra, G. Ambrosi, Valeri Tioukov, M. Fischetti, Veronica Ferrero, E. Scifoni, Francesco Pennazio, Livio Narici, Osamu Sato, Alessio Sarti, Adele Lauria, Francesco Tommasino, S. Colombi, Giancarlo Sportelli, M. G. Bisogni, A. Stahl, V. Gentile, S. Bianucci, R. Mirabelli, Leonello Servoli, U. Weber, Luca Galli, R. Spighi, Nicola Belcari, M. Marafini, A. Embriaco, C. Sanelli, S. Tommasini, C. Finck, Maria Cristina Montesi, P. Carra, G. Silvestre, A. Alexandrov, R. Hetzel, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Giuseppe Giraudo, A. Alexandrov, L. Alunni Solestizi, G. Ambrosi, S. Argirò, R. Arteche Diaz, N. Bartosik, G. Battistoni, N. Belcari, E. Bellinzona, S. Bianucci, S. Biondi, M. G. Bisogni, G. Bruni, N. Camarlinghi, P. Carra, P. Cerello, E. Ciarrocchi, A. Clozza, S. Colombi, G. De Lellis, A. Del Guerra, M. De Simoni, A. Di Crescenzo, M. Donetti, Y. Dong, M. Durante, A. Embriaco, M. Emde, R. Faccini, V. Ferrero, F. Ferroni, E. Fiandrini, C. Finck, E. Fiorina, M. Fischetti, M. Francesconi, M. Franchini, G. Galati, L. Galli, M. Garbini, V. Gentile, G. Giraudo, R. Hetzel, E. Iarocci, M. Ionica, K. Kanxheri, A. C. Kraan, V. Lante, A. Lauria, C. La Tessa, E. Lopez Torres, M. Marafini, I. Mattei, A. Mengarelli, R. Mirabelli, A. Moggi, M. C. Montesi, M. C. Morone, M. Morrocchi, S. Muraro, L. Narici, A. Pastore, N. Pastrone, V. Patera, F. Pennazio, P. Placidi, M. Pullia, F. Raffaeli, L. Ramello, R. Ridolfi, V. Rosso, M. Rovituso, C. Sanelli, A. Sarti, G. Sartorelli, O. Sato, S. Savazzi, L. Scavarda, A. Schiavi, C. Schuy, E. Scifoni, A. Sciubba, A. Sécher, M. Selvi, L. Servoli, G. Silvestre, M. Sitta, R. Spighi, E. Spiriti, G. Sportelli, A. Stahl, V. Tioukov, S. Tommasini, F. Tommasino, G. Traini, S. M. Valle, M. Vanstalle, M. Villa, U. Webe, A. Zoccoli, Alexandrov, A., Alunni Solestizi, L., Ambrosi, G., Argirò, S., Arteche Diaz, R., Bartosik, N., Battistoni, G., Belcari, N., Bellinzona, E., Bianucci, S., Biondi, S., Bisogni, M. G., Bruni, G., Camarlinghi, N., Carra, P., Cerello, P., Ciarrocchi, E., Clozza, A., Colombi, S., De Lellis, G., Del Guerra, A., De Simoni, M., Di Crescenzo, A., Donetti, M., Dong, Y., Durante, M., Embriaco, A., Emde, M., Faccini, R., Ferrero, V., Ferroni, F., Fiandrini, E., Finck, C., Fiorina, E., Fischetti, M., Francesconi, M., Franchini, M., Galati, G., Galli, L., Garbini, M., Gentile, V., Giraudo, G., Hetzel, R., Iarocci, E., Ionica, M., Kanxheri, K., Kraan, A. C., Lante, V., Lauria, A., La Tessa, C., Lopez Torres, E., Marafini, M., Mattei, I., Mengarelli, A., Mirabelli, R., Moggi, A., Montesi, M. C., Morone, M. C., Morrocchi, M., Muraro, S., Narici, L., Pastore, A., Pastrone, N., Patera, V., Pennazio, F., Placidi, P., Pullia, M., Raffaeli, F., Ramello, L., Ridolfi, R., Rosso, V., Rovituso, M., Sanelli, C., Sarti, A., Sartorelli, G., Sato, O., Savazzi, S., Scavarda, L., Schiavi, A., Schuy, C., Scifoni, E., Sciubba, A., Sécher, A., Selvi, M., Servoli, L., Silvestre, G., Sitta, M., Spighi, R., Spiriti, E., Sportelli, G., Stahl, A., Tioukov, V., Tommasini, S., Tommasino, F., Traini, G., Valle, S. M., Vanstalle, M., Villa, M., Weber, U., and Zoccoli, A.
Subjects: Nuclear physics, Particle therapy, Materials science, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, medicine.medical_treatment, Quantitative Biology::Tissues and Organs, Physics::Medical Physics, Media Technology, medicine, Fragmentation (computing), Nuclear Experiment, fragmentation, hadrotherapy, cross section, Settore FIS/07 - Fisica Applicata(Beni Culturali, Ambientali, Biol.e Medicin)
Abstract: Charged Particle Therapy (CPT) is a powerful radiotherapy technique for the treatment of deep-seated tumours characterized by a large dose released in the Bragg peak area (corresponding to the tumour region) and a small dose delivered to the surrounding healthy tissues. The precise measurement of the fragments produced in the nuclear interactions of charged particle beams with patient tissues is a crucial task to improve the clinical treatment plans. The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment is an international project, funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), aimed to study the dose released by the tissues and particle beams fragmentation. The target (16O, 12C) fragmentation induced by 150-400 MeV/n proton beams will be studied via the inverse kinematic approach, where 16O and 12C therapeutic beams collide on graphite and hydrocarbon target to provide the cross section on Hydrogen. A table-top detector is being developed and it includes a drift chamber as a beam monitor upstream of the target to measure the beam direction, a magnetic spectrometer based on silicon pixel and strip detectors, a scintillating crystal calorimeter able to stop the heavier produced fragments, and a ΔE detector, with TOF capability, for the particle identification. A setup based on the concept of the “Emulsion Cloud Chamber”, coupled with the interaction region of the electronic FOOT setup, will complement the physics program by measuring lighter charged fragments to extend the angular acceptance up to about 70 degrees. In this work, the experimental design and the requirements of the FOOT experiment will be discussed and preliminary results on the emulsion spectrometer tests will be presented.
Published: 2019

15. Charge identification performance of a ΔE-TOF detector prototype for the FOOT experiment

Author: Niccolò Camarlinghi, P. Carra, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, Valeria Rosso, A. Moggi, M. Francesconi, Giuseppe Battistoni, A.C. Kraan, A. Del Guerra, M. Pullia, Matteo Morrocchi, L. Galli, Nicola Belcari, Esther Ciarrocchi, and Giancarlo Sportelli
Subjects: Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Particle therapy, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, business.industry, FOOT, medicine.medical_treatment, Time-of-flight, Detector, Scintillator, 01 natural sciences, Prototype, Time of flight, Charge identification, Optics, Fragmentation (mass spectrometry), 0103 physical sciences, medicine, Nuclear Experiment, 010306 general physics, business, Instrumentation
Abstract: FOOT (FragmentatiOn On Target) is an applied nuclear physics experiment aimed at measuring the production cross sections of fragments for energies, beams and targets relevant in particle therapy and radioprotection in space. The Δ E-TOF detector will measure the energy deposited by the fragments in a wall of plastic scintillators and the time of flight with respect to a start detector. These two quantities allow to determine the charge Z of the fragment. In this work, we summarize the charge identification procedure of a detector prototype with two scintillator modules.
Published: 2019

16. Ion charge separation with new generation of nuclear emulsion films

Author: E. Bellinzona, Alberto Mengarelli, M. Villa, E. Fiandrini, F. Raffaelli, Y. Dong, M. Ionica, Esther Ciarrocchi, Marco Francesconi, Nadia Pastrone, Francesco Pennazio, P. Carra, R. Spighi, Alessio Sarti, Antonio Zoccoli, M. Pullia, F. Ferroni, Pisana Placidi, M. Vanstalle, G. Silvestre, M. Emde, C. La Tessa, S. Muraro, L. Narici, M. C. Morone, A.C. Kraan, Marco Durante, R. Arteche Diaz, A. Di Crescenzo, L. Alunni Solestizi, Valeria Rosso, A. Secher, Niccolò Camarlinghi, L. Ramello, Nicola Belcari, E. Iarocci, L. Galli, M. De Simoni, Riccardo Faccini, E. Lopez Torres, C. Finck, Mario Sitta, M. Rovituso, G. De Lellis, M. Marafini, Marco Donetti, Gabriella Sartorelli, V. Gentile, S. Bianucci, Vincenzo Patera, Alberto Clozza, S. Savazzi, M. Fischetti, C. Sanelli, S. M. Valle, A. Sciubba, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, E. Scifoni, A. Embriaco, M. Selvi, Ambrosi Giovanni, Maria Cristina Montesi, Francesco Tommasino, Matteo Franchini, Veronica Ferrero, S. Colombi, K. Kanxheri, Christoph Schuy, Uli Weber, Leonello Servoli, A. Alexandrov, Achim Stahl, Stefano Argiro, A. Moggi, R. Mirabelli, Ilaria Mattei, Matteo Morrocchi, M. Garbini, R. Ridolfi, Giacomo Traini, L. Scavarda, Eleuterio Spiriti, Piergiorgio Cerello, V. Lante, Elisa Fiorina, R. Hetzel, Alessandra Pastore, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, A. Del Guerra, Giuseppe Giraudo, G. Galati, N. Bartosik, Valeri Tioukov, Graziano Bruni, Sandro Tomassini, Giancarlo Sportelli, M. G. Bisogni, A. Schiavi, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Montesi M.C., Lauria A., Alexandrov A., Solestizi L.A., Giovanni A., Argiro S., Diaz R.A., Bartosik N., Battistoni G., Belcari N., Bellinzona E., Bianucci S., Biondi S., Bisogni M.G., Bruni G., Camarlinghi N., Carra P., Cerello P., Ciarrocchi E., Clozza A., Colombi S., Guerra A.D., Simoni M.D., Crescenzo A.D., Donetti M., Dong Y., Durante M., Embriaco A., Emde M., Faccini R., Ferrero V., Ferroni F., Fiandrini E., Finck C., Fiorina E., Fischetti M., Francesconi M., Franchini M., Galati G., Galli L., Garbini M., Gentile V., Giraudo G., Hetzel R., Iarocci E., Ionica M., Kanxheri K., Kraan A.C., Lante V., Tessa C.L., Torres E.L., Marafini M., Mattei I., Mengarelli A., Mirabelli R., Moggi A., Morone M.C., Morrocchi M., Muraro S., Narici L., Pastore A., Pastrone N., Patera V., Pennazio F., Placidi P., Pullia M., Raffaelli F., Ramello L., Ridolfi R., Rosso V., Rovituso M., Sanelli C., Sarti A., Sartorelli G., Sato O., Savazzi S., Scavarda L., Schiavi A., Schuy C., Scifoni E., Sciubba A., Secher A., Selvi M., Servoli L., Silvestre G., Sitta M., Spighi R., Spiriti E., Sportelli G., Stahl A., Tioukov V., Tomassini S., Tommasino F., Traini G., Valle S.M., Vanstalle M., Villa M., Weber U., Zoccoli A., Lellis G.D., Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Montesi, M. C., Lauria, A., Alexandrov, A., Solestizi, L. Alunni, Giovanni, Ambrosi, Argirò, S., Diaz, R. Arteche, Bartosik, N., Battistoni, G., Belcari, N., Bellinzona, E., Bianucci, S., Biondi, S., Bisogni, M. G., Bruni, G., Camarlinghi, N., Carra, P., Cerello, P., Ciarrocchi, E., Clozza, A., Colombi, S., Guerra, A. Del, Simoni, M. De, Crescenzo, A. Di, Donetti, M., Dong, Y., Durante, M., Embriaco, A., Emde, M., Faccini, R., Ferrero, V., Ferroni, F., Fiandrini, E., Finck, C., Fiorina, E., Fischetti, M., Francesconi, M., Franchini, M., Galati, G., Galli, L., Garbini, M., Gentile, V., Giraudo, G., Hetzel, R., Iarocci, E., Ionica, M., Kanxheri, K., Kraan, A. C., Lante, V., Tessa, C. La, Torres, E. Lopez, Marafini, M., Mattei, I., Mengarelli, A., Mirabelli, R., Moggi, A., Morone, M. C., Morrocchi, M., Muraro, S., Narici, L., Pastore, A., Pastrone, N., Patera, V., Pennazio, F., Placidi, P., Pullia, M., Raffaelli, F., Ramello, L., Ridolfi, R., Rosso, V., Rovituso, M., Sanelli, C., Sarti, A., Sartorelli, G., Sato, O., Savazzi, S., Scavarda, L., Schiavi, A., Schuy, C., Scifoni, E., Sciubba, A., Sécher, A., Selvi, M., Servoli, L., Silvestre, G., Sitta, M., Spighi, R., Spiriti, E., Sportelli, G., Stahl, A., Tioukov, V., Tomassini, S., Tommasino, F., Traini, G., Valle, S. M., Vanstalle, M., Villa, M., Weber, U., Zoccoli, A., and Lellis, G. De
Subjects: Health Physics and Radiation Effects, Materials science, QC1-999, General Physics and Astronomy, 29.40.Rg, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, Ion, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Charge identification, 0103 physical sciences, charged particles therapy, nuclear emulsions, Nuclear emulsion, ddc:530, Detectors and Experimental Techniques, 42.62.Be, Nuclear Experiment, [PHYS]Physics [physics], 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Settore FIS/04, Physics, Settore FIS/07, Chemical physics
Abstract: In hadron therapy, the accelerated ions, interacting with the body of the patient, cause the fragmentation of both projectile and target nuclei. The fragments interact with the human tissues depositing energy both in the entrance channel and in the volume surrounding the tumor. The knowledge of the fragments features is crucial to determine the energy amount deposited in the human body, and - hence - the damage to the organs and to the tissues around the tumor target. The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment aims at studying the fragmentation induced by the interaction of a proton beam (150-250 MeV/n) inside the human body. The FOOT detector includes an electronic setup for the identification of Z ≥ 3 fragments integrated with an emulsion spectrometer to measure Z ≤ 3 fragments. Charge identification by nuclear emulsions is based on the development of techniques of controlled fading of the particle tracks inside the nuclear emulsion, that extend the dynamical range of the films developed for the tracking of minimum ionising particles. The controlled fading strongly depends on temperature, relative humidity and treatment duration. In this study the performances in terms of charge separation of proton, helium and carbon particles, obtained on a batch of new emulsion films produced in Japan are reported.
Published: 2019
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17. Fragment charge identification technique with a plastic scintillator detector using clinical carbon beams

Author: Matteo Morrocchi, L. Galli, Giuseppe Battistoni, Nicola Belcari, A. Moggi, Valeria Rosso, P. Carra, Esther Ciarrocchi, Silvia Muraro, Maria Giuseppina Bisogni, M. Francesconi, A. Del Guerra, Niccolò Camarlinghi, A.C. Kraan, M. Pullia, and Giancarlo Sportelli
Subjects: Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Particle therapy, Dose calculation, medicine.medical_treatment, Charge identification, Nuclear fragmentation, Particle therapy, Time-of-flight, Time-of-flight, Physics::Medical Physics, Monte Carlo method, Detector, Nuclear fragmentation, Scintillator, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, Ion, Nuclear physics, 03 medical and health sciences, Time of flight, 0302 clinical medicine, Fragmentation (mass spectrometry), Charge identification, 030220 oncology & carcinogenesis, medicine, Instrumentation
Abstract: Nuclear physics processes are an important source of uncertainty in dose calculations in particle therapy and radioprotection in space. Accurate cross section measurements are a crucial ingredient in improving the understanding of these processes. The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment aims at measuring the production cross sections of fragments for energies, beams and targets that are relevant in particle therapy and radioprotection in space. An experimental apparatus composed of several sub-detectors will provide the mass, charge, velocity and energy of fragments produced in nuclear interactions in a thin target. A crucial component of the FOOT apparatus will be the Δ E-TOF detector, designed to identify the charge of the fragments using plastic scintillators to measure the energy deposited and the time of flight with respect to a start counter. In this work, we present a charge reconstruction procedure of produced fragments at particle therapy energies. We validate it by measuring the charges of various fragments at an angle of 3.2°and 8.3°with respect the beam-axis, using a small-scale detector and clinical beams of carbon ions at the CNAO oncology center. Experimental results agree well with FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations.
Published: 2019

18. Performance evaluation of the LightPath imaging system for intra-operative Cerenkov luminescence imaging

Author: Benedicte Descamps, Nicola Belcari, Christian Vanhove, Stef De Lombaerde, Esther Ciarrocchi, and Stefaan Vandenberghe
Subjects: Intra operative, Materials science, Beta-emitting radiotracer, Biophysics, General Physics and Astronomy, 01 natural sciences, Signal, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, 010309 optics, 03 medical and health sciences, Physics and Astronomy (all), 0302 clinical medicine, Fluorodeoxyglucose F18, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Neoplasms, 0103 physical sciences, Animals, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, Radionuclide Imaging, Image resolution, Detection limit, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Phantoms, Imaging, Optical Imaging, Linearity, General Medicine, Biological tissue, Cerenkov luminescence imaging, Intra-operative imaging, Performance evaluation, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Surgery, Computer-Assisted, Radiopharmaceuticals, Luminescence, Phantom studies, Radiology, Biomedical engineering
Abstract: The performances of an intra-operative optical imaging system for Cerenkov luminescence imaging of resected tumor specimens were evaluated with phantom studies. The spatial resolution, the linearity of the measured signal with the activity concentration and the minimum detectable activity concentration were considered. A high linearity was observed over a broad range of activity concentration ( R 2 ⩾ 0.99 down to ∼40 kBq/ml of 18F-FDG). For 18F-FDG activity distributions 2 mm deep in biological tissue, the measured detection limit was 8 kBq/ml and a spatial resolution of 2.5 mm was obtained. The detection limit of the imaging system is comparable with clinical activity concentrations in tumor specimens, and the spatial resolution is compatible with clinical requirements.
Published: 2018

19. The ΔE-TOF detector of the FOOT experiment: Experimental tests and Monte Carlo simulations

Author: M. Francesconi, Matteo Morrocchi, A. Del Guerra, P. Carra, M. Pullia, Niccolò Camarlinghi, Giancarlo Sportelli, Valeria Rosso, Esther Ciarrocchi, A.C. Kraan, L. Galli, Silvia Muraro, Nicola Belcari, and Maria Giuseppina Bisogni
Subjects: Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Photon, Proton, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Monte Carlo method, Detector, Scintillator, Ion, Computational physics, Time of flight, Nuclear Experiment, Instrumentation, Energy (signal processing)
Abstract: The FOOT experiment aims at identifying the fragments produced in the human body during hadrontherapy and at measuring their cross sections. The apparatus is composed of several detectors which allow a complete reconstruction of the tracks of the fragments. In particular, the Δ E-TOF detector measures the energy released in a thin plastic scintillator and the time of flight of the fragments. In this work, we report the energy and time resolution of a Δ E-TOF detector prototype with proton and carbon irradiations, and we compare the results with a Monte Carlo simulation of the optical transport in the detector. With carbon ions, we measured time resolutions of ∼ 50 ps and energy resolutions of ∼ 6%. The Monte Carlo simulation was able to model the dependence of the number of detected photons on the proton interaction position.
Published: 2019
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20. The FOOT (Fragmentation Of Target) Experiment

Author: M. Garbini, Angelo Schiavi, Giacomo Traini, Valery Tioukov, Esther Ciarrocchi, Alessandra Pastore, Cristiana Peroni, Luciano Ramello, M. Franchini, M. Vanstalle, M. C. Morone, Niccolò Camarlinghi, Riccardo Paramatti, Nadia Pastrone, Giancarlo Sportelli, M. G. Bisogni, Alessio Sarti, Michela Marafini, C. Sanelli, Emanuele Scifoni, A. Zoccoli, Graziano Bruni, E. Iarocci, C. Finck, Andrey Alexandrov, Gabriella Sartorelli, Vincenzo Patera, M. Selvi, Christoph Schuy, M. Pullia, Piergiorgio Cerello, Maria Cristina Montesi, Sergio Brambilla, Marco Durante, Mario Sitta, Marianna Testa, Valeria Rosso, Eleuterio Spiriti, Silvia Biondi, Giuseppe Battistoni, Stefano Argiro, Keida Kanxheri, Leonello Servoli, Chiara La Tessa, Nicola Belcari, Riccardo Faccini, Marco Francesconi, Livio Narici, Luca Galli, Antonia Di Crescenzo, Francesco Tommasino, Giuseppe Giraudo, R. Spighi, F. Ferroni, Ilaria Mattei, Matteo Morrocchi, R. Mirabelli, Giovanni De Lellis, M. Rovituso, Adalberto Sciubba, Alberto Clozza, Silvia Muraro, Osamu Sato, Adele Lauria, Veronica Ferrero, S. M. Valle, Ulrich Weber, M. Villa, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: Proton, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, medicine.medical_treatment, Quantitative Biology::Tissues and Organs, Physics::Medical Physics, Bragg peak, [PHYS.NEXP]Physics [physics]/Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex], 01 natural sciences, Particle identification, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, Ion, Nuclear physics, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, Nuclear Experiment, Hadron therapy nuclear fragmentation, Physics, Particle therapy, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Projectile, Settore FIS/07, Charged particle, Physics::Accelerator Physics, Beam (structure)
Abstract: Particle therapy uses protons or $^{12}$C beams for the treatment of deep-seated solid tumors. Due to the features of the energy deposition of charged particles in matter, a limited amount of dose is released to the healthy tissue in the beam entrance region, while the maximum of the dose is released to the tumor at the end of the beam range, in the Bragg peak region. However nuclear interactions between beam and patient tissues induce fragmentation both of projectile and target. This has to be carefully taken into account since different ions have different effectiveness in producing a biological damage. par In $^{12}$C treatments the main concern are long range forward emitted secondary ions produced in projectile fragmentation that release dose in the healthy tissue after the tumor. Instead, in a proton treatment, the target fragmentation produces low energy, short range fragments along all the beam range. The FOOT experiment (FragmentatiOn Of Target) is designed to study these processes. Target nuclei ($^{16}$O, $^{12}$C) fragmentation induced by 150-250 MeV proton beam will be studied by means of the inverse kinematic approach: $^{16}$O,$^{12}$C therapeutic beams, at the quoted kinetic energy per nucleon, collide on graphite and hydrocarbons target. The cross section on Hydrogen can be then extracted by subtraction. This configuration explores also the projectile fragmentation of these O and C beams, or other ions of therapeutic interest, such as $^4$He for instance. The detector includes a magnetic spectrometer based on silicon pixel and strip detectors, a scintillating crystal calorimeter able to stop the heavier produced fragments, and a $\Delta E$ detector, with TOF capability, to achieve the needed energy resolution and particle identification. In addition to the electronic apparatus, an alternative setup based on the concept of the "Emulsion Cloud Chamber", coupled with the interaction region of the electronic FOOT setup, will provide the measurement of lighter charged fragments: protons, deuterons, tritons and Helium nuclei. The FOOT data taking is foreseen in the available experimental rooms existing in the presently operational charged particle therapy facilities in Europe, and possibly at GSI. An initial phase with the emulsion setup will start in early 2018, while the complete electronic detector will take data starting in 2019. In this work a general description of the FOOT experiment and of its expected performances is presented.
Published: 2017
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21. Cerenkov luminescence imaging: physics principles and potential applications in biomedical sciences

Author: Nicola Belcari and Esther Ciarrocchi
Subjects: medicine.medical_specialty, Biomedical Engineering, Review, 01 natural sciences, Work related, Optical imaging, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, 010309 optics, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Optics, Data acquisition, Cerenkov luminescence imaging, Nuclear medicine, Radiation, Instrumentation, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, Medical physics, Physics, Modality (human–computer interaction), business.industry, Detector, Processing methods, Luminescence, business, Radiology
Abstract: Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is a novel imaging modality to study charged particles with optical methods by detecting the Cerenkov luminescence produced in tissue. This paper first describes the physical processes that govern the production and transport in tissue of Cerenkov luminescence. The detectors used for CLI and their most relevant specifications to optimize the acquisition of the Cerenkov signal are then presented, and CLI is compared with the other optical imaging modalities sharing the same data acquisition and processing methods. Finally, the scientific work related to CLI and the applications for which CLI has been proposed are reviewed. The paper ends with some considerations about further perspectives for this novel imaging modality.
Published: 2017

22. Quantitative Cerenkov luminescence imaging: Measurements and simulations

Author: Angela G. Cataldi, Esther Ciarrocchi, Alberto Del Guerra, N. Belcari, and Paola Anna Erba
Subjects: Physics, Photon, business.industry, Monte Carlo method, Computer Science::Software Engineering, Signal, 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Optics, 030220 oncology & carcinogenesis, Charge-coupled device, Photonics, Luminescence, business, Penetration depth, Image resolution
Abstract: Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is an optical imaging modality recently proposed to image β emitting radionuclides through the Cerenkov light they produce in tissue. CLI has been suggested in particular for β− emitting isotopes, which are difficult to study by other means, and as a cost-effective alternative to PET, yet with reduced penetration depth and spatial resolution. In this work we tested the predictive capabilities of a Monte Carlo model developed within the Geant4 platform for the description of a CLI experiment. Our final goal is to use Monte Carlo simulations to quantitatively correlate the number of detected Cerenkov photons with the radionuclide distribution. The code could be used also as a tool for experiment planning, for example in evaluating CLI applications. To test the reliability of the Monte Carlo predictions, CLI measurements were performed with a simple geometry that can be easily simulated (a radionuclide diluted in water) and the CLI signal measured with an electron multiplying charge coupled device (EMCCD) was compared with the Monte Carlo prediction. We observed that, below a certain detection limit and for particular acquisition settings, the measured signal depended on the acquisition settings. Apart from these exceptions, the simulated CLI signal was systematically 0.8 times the measured one. This small and constant offset suggests that the code could have good predictive capabilities in water.
Published: 2016
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23. Cherenkov luminescence measurements with digital silicon photomultipliers: a feasibility study

Author: Nicola Belcari, William C. J. Hunter, Paul E. Kinahan, Adrienne L. Lehnert, Esther Ciarrocchi, Wendy McDougald, Simon R. Cherry, Robert S. Miyaoka, and Alberto Del Guerra
Subjects: Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Biomedical Engineering, Silicon photomultipliers, Bioengineering, Digital silicon photomultipliers, law.invention, Silicon photomultiplier, Optics, law, Cerenkov radiation, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, Instrumentation, Cherenkov radiation, Original Research, Physics, Radiation, business.industry, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Avalanche photodiode, Photon counting, Photodiode, Cherenkov luminescence imaging, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Charge-coupled device, Radiology, Luminescence, Nuclear medicine, business, Dark current
Abstract: Background A feasibility study was done to assess the capability of digital silicon photomultipliers to measure the Cherenkov luminescence emitted by a β source. Cherenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is possible with a charge coupled device (CCD) based technology, but a stand-alone technique for quantitative activity measurements based on Cherenkov luminescence has not yet been developed. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are photon counting devices with a fast impulse response and can potentially be used to quantify β-emitting radiotracer distributions by CLI. Methods In this study, a Philips digital photon counting (PDPC) silicon photomultiplier detector was evaluated for measuring Cherenkov luminescence. The PDPC detector is a matrix of avalanche photodiodes, which were read one at a time in a dark count map (DCM) measurement mode (much like a CCD). This reduces the device active area but allows the information from a single avalanche photodiode to be preserved, which is not possible with analog SiPMs. An algorithm to reject the noisiest photodiodes and to correct the measured count rate for the dark current was developed. Results The results show that, in DCM mode and at (10–13) °C, the PDPC has a dynamic response to different levels of Cherenkov luminescence emitted by a β source and transmitted through an opaque medium. This suggests the potential for this approach to provide quantitative activity measurements. Interestingly, the potential use of the PDPC in DCM mode for direct imaging of Cherenkov luminescence, as a opposed to a scalar measurement device, was also apparent. Conclusions We showed that a PDPC tile in DCM mode is able to detect and image a β source through its Cherenkov radiation emission. The detector’s dynamic response to different levels of radiation suggests its potential quantitative capabilities, and the DCM mode allows imaging with a better spatial resolution than the conventional event-triggered mode. Finally, the same acquisition procedure and data processing could be employed also for other low light levels applications, such as bioluminescence. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40658-015-0134-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Published: 2015

24. Development of a simulation environment for Cerenkov luminescence imaging

Author: Antonello E. Spinelli, Esther Ciarrocchi, Nicola Belcari, Federico Boschi, Alberto Del Guerra, and Marco Pagliazzi
Subjects: Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Radiation, Photon, business.industry, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Monte Carlo method, Detector, Modular design, Software, Optics, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Optoelectronics, Charge-coupled device, Radiology, Luminescence, business
Abstract: In vivo Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is a demanding application requiring advanced pre-clinical small animal optical imaging devices. Here we propose a Monte Carlo based simulation workflow aimed to improve the development of an efficient Cerenkov optical imager for small animals. Our work makes use of a modular approach by considering open source, freely available or custom built software to solve the forward light propagation problem from source to detector in the following steps: i) simulation of the efficiency of Cerenkov light production of beta-emitting radionuclide in tissue using GEANT4 ii) optical transport of the simulated emitted photons through a precise mouse CT-segmented model using Molecular Optical Simulation Environment (MOSE), iii) free space transport of light from the mouse surface to a CCD sensor and simulation of the system response.
Published: 2013
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25. A depth of interaction PET detector using side surface readout

Author: Matteo Morrocchi, Alberto Del Guerra, William C. J. Hunter, Robert S. Miyaoka, Adrienne L. Lehnert, Esther Ciarrocchi, and Maria Giuseppina Bisogni
Subjects: Crystal, Physics, Optics, Silicon photomultiplier, business.industry, Detector, Monte Carlo method, Flux, business, Image resolution, Collimated light, Lyso
Abstract: We investigate the potential for extracting DOI information from reading out the light distribution along two (or three) surfaces of a discrete crystal PET detector array. The concept was investigated using both Monte Carlo (GEANT4) simulations and measurements. The crystal array was composed of a 1×6 array of 4×4×22 mm3 LYSO crystals optically coupled with meltmount (N=1.7). One or two of the 4×22 mm2 sides were optically coupled to a linear array of SiPM sensors (lateral SiPMs), as was one of the 4×24 mm2 sides (backend SiPMs.) The other sides of the array were covered with reflective material. A coincidence collimated point flux was collected at regular intervals along the DOI axis of each of the six crystals. The light response function was determined for each crystal versus DOI. The simulated and experimentally measured light response functions had similar shapes. A combination of simulated and measured data analysis was used to investigate the possibility of reducing the number of lateral SiPMs. DOI positioning was excellent for the two crystals nearest the lateral SiPM arrays and for the 10 mm closest to the backend SiPM array but degraded in the two center crystals. Estimated spatial resolution was below 5 mm in 90% of the array when using the backend and one lateral array, and less than 4.5 mm throughout the array when using at least two SiPMs from both lateral arrays.
Published: 2013

26. The Drift Chamber detector of the FOOT experiment: Performance analysis and external calibration

Author: Lante Valeria, M. G. Bisogni, Morrocchi Matteo, Sartorelli Gabriella, Fiandrini Emanuele, Mattei Ilaria, Colombi Sofia, Kanxheri Keida, Ionica Maria, Narici Livio, Spiriti Eleuterio, Giraudo Giuseppe, Laurenza Martina, Benedetto Di Ruzza, Argirò Stefano, Tomassini Sandro, Iarocci Enzo, Maria Cristina Montesi, Traini Giacomo, Mengarelli Alberto, Y. Dong, Sportelli Giancarlo, Ferrero Veronica, Antonia Di Crescenzo, Weber Ulrich, Schiavi Angelo, Alpat Behcet, Scifoni Emanuele, Franciosini Gaia, Spighi Roberto, Silvestre Gianluigi, Barbanera Mattia, Ciarrocchi Esther, Clozza Alberto, Chiara La Tessa, Pastore Alessandra, M. Villa, M. C. Morone, Alexandrov Andrey, Sato Osamu, Donetti Marco, Galli Luca, Ridolfi Riccardo, Massimi Cristian, Pastrone Nadia, Ernesto Lopez Torres, Sciubba Adalberto, Rosso Valeria, Cerello Piergiorgio, Alberto Del Guerra, Micol De Simoni, A.C. Kraan, Marafini Michela, Leonello Servoli, Ramello Luciano, Gentile Valerio, Raul Arteche Diaz, S. M. Valle, Pullia Marco, Galati Giuliana, Raffaelli Fabrizio, Franchini Matteo, Vincenzo Patera, Fiorina Elisa, Francesconi Marco, Savazzi Simone, Finck Christian, Toppi Marco, Pennazio Francesco, Selvi Marco, Schuy Christoph, Bellinzona Elettra, Durante Marco, Placidi Pisana, Giovanni De Lellis, Sanelli Claudio, Sécher Alexandre, Belcari Nicola, Bartosik Nazar, Francesco Tommasino, Sarti Alessio, Giuseppe Battistoni, Sitta Mario, Fischetti Marta, Ambrosi Giovanni, Valeri Tioukov, Hetzel Ronja, M. Vanstalle, Carra Pietro, Stahl Achim, Zoccoli Antonio, Muraro Silvia, Moggi Andrea, Lauria Adele, Bruni Graziano, Biondi Silvia, Scavarda Lorenzo, Dong Y., Gianluigi S., Sofia C., Andrey A., Behcet A., Giovanni A., Stefano A., Arteche Diaz R., Mattia B., Nazar B., Nicola B., Elettra B., S. Biondi, Bisogni M.G., G. Bruni, Pietro C., Piergiorgio C., Esther C., Alberto C., De Lellis G., Del Guerra A., De Simoni M., Di Crescenzo A., Di Ruzza B., Marco D., Veronica F., Emanuele F., Christian F., Elisa F., Marta F., Marco F., M. Franchini., Gaia F., Giuliana G., Luca G., Valerio G., Giuseppe G., Ronja H., Enzo I., Maria I., Keida K., Kraan A.C., Valeria L., La Tessa C., Martina L., Adele L., Lopez Torres E., Michela M., Cristian M., Ilaria M., A. Mengarelli, Andrea M., Montesi M.C., Morone M.C., Matteo M., Silvia M., Livio N., Alessandra P., Nadia P., Patera V., Francesco P., Pisana P., Marco P., Fabrizio R., Luciano R., R. Ridolfi, Valeria R., Claudio S., Alessio S., G. Sartorelli, Osamu S., Simone S., Lorenzo S., Angelo S., Christoph S., Emanuele S., Adalberto S., Alexandre S., Marco S., Mario S., R. Spighi, Eleuterio S., Giancarlo S., Achim S., Sandro T., Marco T., Giacomo T., Tioukov V., Valle S.M., Vanstalle M., Villa M., Ulrich W., A. Zoccoli, Battistoni G., Servoli L., Tommasino F., Dong, Yunsheng, Gianluigi, Silvestre, Sofia, Colombi, Alexandrov, Andrey, Behcet, Alpat, Giovanni, Ambrosi, Stefano, Argirò, Arteche Diaz, Raul, Mattia, Barbanera, Nazar, Bartosik, Nicola, Belcari, Elettra, Bellinzona, Silvia, Biondi, Bisogni, Maria Giuseppina, Graziano, Bruni, Pietro, Carra, Piergiorgio, Cerello, Esther, Ciarrocchi, Alberto, Clozza, De Lellis, Giovanni, Del Guerra, Alberto, De Simoni, Micol, Di Crescenzo, Antonia, Di Ruzza, Benedetto, Marco, Donetti, Durante, Marco, Veronica, Ferrero, Emanuele, Fiandrini, Christian, Finck, Elisa, Fiorina, Marta, Fischetti, Marco, Francesconi, Matteo, Franchini, Gaia, Franciosini, Galati, Giuliana, Luca, Galli, Valerio, Gentile, Giuseppe, Giraudo, Ronja, Hetzel, Enzo, Iarocci, Maria, Ionica, Keida, Kanxheri, Kraan, Aafke Christine, Valeria, Lante, La Tessa, Chiara, Martina, Laurenza, Lauria, Adele, Lopez Torres, Ernesto, Michela, Marafini, Cristian, Massimi, Ilaria, Mattei, Alberto, Mengarelli, Andrea, Moggi, Montesi, Maria Cristina, Morone, Maria Cristina, Matteo, Morrocchi, Silvia, Muraro, Livio, Narici, Alessandra, Pastore, Nadia, Pastrone, Patera, Vincenzo, Francesco, Pennazio, Pisana, Placidi, Marco, Pullia, Fabrizio, Raffaelli, Luciano, Ramello, Riccardo, Ridolfi, Valeria, Rosso, Claudio, Sanelli, Alessio, Sarti, Gabriella, Sartorelli, Osamu, Sato, Simone, Savazzi, Lorenzo, Scavarda, Angelo, Schiavi, Christoph, Schuy, Emanuele, Scifoni, Adalberto, Sciubba, Alexandre, Sécher, Marco, Selvi, Mario, Sitta, Roberto, Spighi, Eleuterio, Spiriti, Giancarlo, Sportelli, Achim, Stahl, Sandro, Tomassini, Marco, Toppi, Giacomo, Traini, Tioukov, Valeri, Valle, Serena Marta, Vanstalle, Marie, Villa, Mauro, Ulrich, Weber, Antonio, Zoccoli, Battistoni, Giuseppe, Servoli, Leonello, Tommasino, Francesco, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Silicon, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, medicine.medical_treatment, Nuclear physics, chemistry.chemical_element, 01 natural sciences, Microstrip, Optics, nuclear physics, Silicon microstrip detector, silicon microstrip detector, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, Perpendicular, [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det], 010306 general physics, Instrumentation, Image resolution, Physics, drift chamber, Particle therapy, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Projectile, business.industry, Settore FIS/04, Settore FIS/07, Detector, chemistry, Nuclear physic, Drift chamber, business, Beam energy
Abstract: The study that we present is part of the preparation work for the setup of the FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment whose main goal is the measurement of the double differential cross sections of fragments produced in nuclear interactions of particles with energies relevant for particle therapy. The present work is focused on the characterization of the gas-filled drift chamber detector composed of 36 sensitive cells, distributed over two perpendicular views. Each view consists of six consecutive and staggered layers with three cells per layer. We investigated the detector efficiency and we performed an external calibration of the space–time relations at the level of single cells. This information was then used to evaluate the drift chamber resolution. An external tracking system realized with microstrip silicon detectors was adopted to have a track measurement independent on the drift chamber. The characterization was performed with a proton beam at the energies of 228 and 80 MeV. The overall hit detection efficiency of the drift chamber has been found to be 0 . 929 ± 0 . 008 , independent on the proton beam energy. The spatial resolution in the central part of the cell is about 150 ± 10 μ m and 300 ± 10 μ m and the corresponding detector angular resolution has been measured to be 1 . 62 ± 0 . 16 mrad and 2 . 1 ± 0 . 4 mrad for the higher and lower beam energies, respectively. In addition, the best value on the intrinsic drift chamber resolution has been evaluated to be in the range 60 − 100 μ m. In the framework of the FOOT experiment, the drift chamber will be adopted in the pre-target region, and will be exploited to measure the projectile direction and position, as well as for the identification of pre-target fragmentation events.
Published: 2021
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26 results on '"Esther Ciarrocchi"'

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26. The Drift Chamber detector of the FOOT experiment: Performance analysis and external calibration

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