Radiation Therapy

Projects

Ultra intense laser pulses allow the production of high-energy protons and heavier ions by laser-driven acceleration, paving the way to attractive applications in medicine. This may put radiotherapy of cancer by laser-driven ion beams within reach of smaller facilities, replacing large installations of conventional accelerators and ion beam transport systems. The size and costs of the latter currently limit the practical use of cancer therapy with energetic ion beams despite their highly favourable characteristics. We therefore investigate all essential physical, biological and medical aspects of laser-driven tumour therapy. This includes novel dosimetry systems to detect ultra short particle bunches and radiobiological studies concerning the biological effectiveness of pulsed ion beams both in vitro and in vivo. At the biomedical beamline, cell irradiations with laser-driven ion beams shall be performed as a first step towards future clinical devices for laser-driven ion beam radiotherapy.