18HLT04 UHDpulse: Metrology for advanced radiotherapy using particle beams with ultra-high pulse dose rates

• Research unit: METAS
• Project number: F-5155.30115

Key words (English)

Radiotherapy, dosimetry, detector characteristics, ultra-high pulse dose rate, laser-based particle accelerator, ultrashort radiation pulses.

Short description (English)

Recently, in vivo radiobiological experiments have shown that irradiation with electron beams, with ultra-high dose per pulse, may dramatically reduce adverse side effects while being equally efficient for tumour control as conventional irradiation. Extreme dose rates are delivered by laser-based accelerators, which are the next generation of accelerators for radiotherapy. These accelerators may facilitate the development of more efficient therapeutic techniques and cost-effective healthcare. Pulses with dose rate orders of magnitudes higher than those in conventional radiotherapy present significant metrological challenges, which need to be addressed to enable the translation of these novel radiotherapy techniques into clinical practice.

This is a joint research project carried out in the framework of the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) (see:http://www.euramet.org/research-innovation/empir/). The EMPIR initiative is co-funded by the European Unions's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the participating states. METAS is one of the project partners in the project.

Project aims (English)

The overall goal of the project is to provide the metrological tools needed to establish traceability in absorbed dose measurements of particle beams with ultra-high pulse dose rates (UHPDR), i.e. with ultra-high dose per pulse or with ultra-short pulse duration.

The specific objectives of the project are:

1. To develop a metrological framework, including SI-traceable primary and secondary reference standards and validated reference methods for dosimetry measurements for particle beams with ultra-high pulse dose rates.
2. To characterise the response of available detector systems in particle beams with ultra-high dose per pulse or with ultra-short pulse duration.
3. To develop traceable and validated methods for relative dosimetry and for the characterisation of stray radiation outside the primary pulsed particle beams.
4. Using the results from objectives 1-3, to provide the input data for Codes of Practice for absolute dose measurements in particle beams with ultra-high pulse dose rates.
5. To facilitate the uptake of the project’s achievements by the measurement supply chain, standards developing organisations (e.g. those associated with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and International Commission on Radiation Units (ICRU) reports) and end users (clinical and academic laboratories, hospitals and radiotherapy manufacturers).