CHEMONO: Cherenkov Monolithic Detectors for Proton Range Verification in Proton Therapy

by Gerard Ariño (IFAE Medical)

Wednesday 26 Mar 2025, 13:00 → 14:00 Europe/Madrid

IFAE Seminar Room (In-person)

Proton-based radiotherapy has the potential to be a highly effective cancer treatment modality with low toxicity levels in the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. The lack of a technique that provides a verification measurement of the proton range is hindering the evolution of this modality, as significant clearance margins need to be included in the treatment plan. One of the proposed approaches for proton range verification (PRV) in proton therapy is using the prompt-gamma (PG) emitted along its track, which peak towards the Bragg Peak (BP) at the end of the range. In this seminar I will present a prompt-gamma detector based exclusively on the Cherenkov light emitted in a high-density, high-Z and transparent crystal, PbF2. While Cherenkov light in pure Cherenkov crystals has been used to determine the detection time of the PG, no previous study reports on using such signal to determine the interaction position in the crystal in this application. I will present a gamma detector concept aimed at building a PRV that employs physical collimators for PG. I will present preliminary data acquired at a proton beam with 67.5 MeV protons, that yield PG with energies between 1 MeV and 6 MeV of energy.