Frontiers in Oncology (Aug 2021)

Radioactive Beams for Image-Guided Particle Therapy: The BARB Experiment at GSI

  • Daria Boscolo,
  • Daria Kostyleva,
  • Mohammad Javad Safari,
  • Vasiliki Anagnostatou,
  • Juha Äystö,
  • Juha Äystö,
  • Soumya Bagchi,
  • Tim Binder,
  • Georgios Dedes,
  • Peter Dendooven,
  • Timo Dickel,
  • Timo Dickel,
  • Vasyl Drozd,
  • Vasyl Drozd,
  • Bernhard Franczack,
  • Hans Geissel,
  • Hans Geissel,
  • Chiara Gianoli,
  • Christian Graeff,
  • Tuomas Grahn,
  • Tuomas Grahn,
  • Florian Greiner,
  • Emma Haettner,
  • Roghieh Haghani,
  • Muhsin N. Harakeh,
  • Felix Horst,
  • Christine Hornung,
  • Christine Hornung,
  • Jan-Paul Hucka,
  • Jan-Paul Hucka,
  • Nasser Kalantar-Nayestanaki,
  • Erika Kazantseva,
  • Birgit Kindler,
  • Ronja Knöbel,
  • Natalia Kuzminchuk-Feuerstein,
  • Bettina Lommel,
  • Ivan Mukha,
  • Chiara Nociforo,
  • Shunki Ishikawa,
  • Giulio Lovatti,
  • Munetaka Nitta,
  • Ikechi Ozoemelam,
  • Stephane Pietri,
  • Wolfgang R. Plaß,
  • Wolfgang R. Plaß,
  • Andrej Prochazka,
  • Sivaji Purushothaman,
  • Claire-Anne Reidel,
  • Heidi Roesch,
  • Heidi Roesch,
  • Fabio Schirru,
  • Christoph Schuy,
  • Olga Sokol,
  • Timo Steinsberger,
  • Timo Steinsberger,
  • Yoshiki K. Tanaka,
  • Isao Tanihata,
  • Isao Tanihata,
  • Isao Tanihata,
  • Peter Thirolf,
  • Walter Tinganelli,
  • Bernd Voss,
  • Uli Weber,
  • Helmut Weick,
  • John S. Winfield,
  • Martin Winkler,
  • Jianwei Zhao,
  • Jianwei Zhao,
  • Christoph Scheidenberger,
  • Christoph Scheidenberger,
  • Katia Parodi,
  • Marco Durante,
  • Marco Durante,
  • the Super-FRS Experiment Collaboration

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.737050
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

Several techniques are under development for image-guidance in particle therapy. Positron (β+) emission tomography (PET) is in use since many years, because accelerated ions generate positron-emitting isotopes by nuclear fragmentation in the human body. In heavy ion therapy, a major part of the PET signals is produced by β+-emitters generated via projectile fragmentation. A much higher intensity for the PET signal can be obtained using β+-radioactive beams directly for treatment. This idea has always been hampered by the low intensity of the secondary beams, produced by fragmentation of the primary, stable beams. With the intensity upgrade of the SIS-18 synchrotron and the isotopic separation with the fragment separator FRS in the FAIR-phase-0 in Darmstadt, it is now possible to reach radioactive ion beams with sufficient intensity to treat a tumor in small animals. This was the motivation of the BARB (Biomedical Applications of Radioactive ion Beams) experiment that is ongoing at GSI in Darmstadt. This paper will present the plans and instruments developed by the BARB collaboration for testing the use of radioactive beams in cancer therapy.

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