PROTON RADIOGRAPHY WITH THE PIXEL DETECTOR TIMEPIX

Abstract

This article presents the processing of radiographic data acquired using the position-sensitive hybrid semiconductor pixel detector Timepix. Measurements were made on thin samples at the medical ion-synchrotron HIT [1] in Heidelberg (Germany) with a 221 MeV proton beam. The charge is energy by the particles crossing the sample is registered for generation of image contrast. Experimental data from the detector were processed for derivation of the energy loss of each proton using calibration matrices. The interaction point of the protons on the detector were determined with subpixel resolution by model fitting of the individual signals in the pixelated matrix. Three methods were used for calculation of these coordinates: Hough transformation, 2D Gaussian fitting and estimate the 2D mean. Parameters of calculation accuracy and calculation time are compared for each method. The final image was created by method with best parameters.