Biophysics

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive bone malignancy with high metastatic potential to the lungs. CTCs, as seeds of metastasis, play an important role in the spread of this cancer, and, therefore, their isolation, culture, and gene expression analysis promises valuable insights into the progression and metastatic cascade of osteosarcoma. [...]

Objective.This work aims to evaluate the ability of novel detector components to measure with submillimeter resolution in beam positron emission tomography (PET) signals produced by10C and11C radioactive ion beams stopped in PMMA targets and to validate a simulation toolkit for reproducing beam physics and PET detector responses within the framework of the biomedical applications of radioactive ion beam (BARB) project.Approach.The PET system response was assessed by visualizing the radioactive distributions of the beams stopped in tissue surrogate phantoms, and the capacity of the simulation toolkit was evaluated by comparing the experimental results with simulations, both for the depth-dose distribution and PET imaging.Main results.The detector assembly accurately visualized the PET signal with submillimeter resolution, achieving the objective of measuring the difference in the positron range between10C and11C. The simulation toolkit effectively reproduced the beam characteristics and detector responses, showing a high degree of agreement between the simulated and experimental PET profiles under different beam delivery conditions.Significance.These findings demonstrate the precision and reliability of the novel in-beam PET detector technology and simulation toolkit for small animals, establishing a solid foundation for the second phase of the BARB project, which involves preclinical irradiation of living mice..

Incorporating image guidance into ion beam therapy is critical for minimizing beam range uncertainties and realizing the modality's potential. One promising avenue for image guidance is to capture transmission ion radiographs (iRads) before and/or during treatment. [...]

Radiation type and dose distinctly modulate microgreens development, revealing trait-specific thresholds where X-rays induce hormesis, carbon ions delay differentiation, and iron ions enhance biochemical balance with moderate anatomical disruption. As space exploration progresses and controlled-environment agriculture becomes increasingly relevant under extreme conditions, understanding how ionizing radiation affects plant development is crucial. [...]

Objective.Irregular motion impacts treatment accuracy and can be compensated by larger margins or online adaptive approaches. A seamless workflow for fast and accurate 4D-dose reconstruction allows dosimetric monitoring intra- and inter-fractionally, as a basis for adaptive therapy. [...]

Objective.To identify suitable combination strategies for treatment planning and beam delivery in scanned carbon ion therapy of moving tumors.Approach. Carbon ion treatment plans for five abdominal tumors were optimized on four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) data using the following approaches. [...]

Integrated mode proton imaging is a clinically accessible method for proton radiographs (pRads), but its spatial resolution is limited by multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS). As the amplitude of MCS decreases with increasing particle charge, heavier ions such as carbon ions produce radiographs with better resolution (cRads). [...]