Tracking and LET Measurements with the MiniPIX-TimePIX Detector for 60 MeV Clinical Protons

Recent advancements in accelerator technology have led the rapid emergence of particle therapy facilities worldwide, affirming the need for enhanced characterisation methods of radiation fields and radiobiological effects. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, UK operates a 60 MeV proton beam to treat ocular cancers and facilitates studies into proton-induced radiobiological responses. Accordingly, an indicator of radiation quality is the linear energy transfer (LET), a challenging physical quantity to measure. The MiniPIX-Timepix is a miniaturised, hybrid semiconductor pixel detector with a Timepix ASIC, enabling wide-range measurements of the deposited energy, position and direction of individual charged particles. High resolution spectrometric tracking and simultaneous energy measurements of single particles enable the beam profile, time, spatial dose mapping and LET (0.1 to >100 keV/µm) to be resolved. Measurements were performed to determine the LET spectra in silicon, at different positions along the Bragg Peak (BP). We discuss the experimental setup, preliminary results and applicability of the MiniPIX for clinical environments.

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