Improving Head Tumour Radiotherapy

The Timepix3 detector, developed at CERN as part of the Medipix3 Collaboration, has been customised and embedded in a dedicated device, “Beam TraX”, by the Czech company ADVACAM, and used in first patient trials, InViMo, by scientists from the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) at University Hospital Heidelberg (UKHD).

These trials are focusing on patients with tumors near the base of the skull, where precise irradiation is extremely important due to the proximity of essential structures such as the brainstem. The ADVACAM device is used to track charged nuclear fragments generated when ions pass through the tissues: this secondary-particle imaging technique could help target cancer cells more accurately in ion radiotherapy of head and neck tumours with the aim of reducing irradiation of surrounding healthy tissue.

The sensitive surface area makes the quad module one of the largest commercially available Timepix3-based plug-and-play particle trackers. Future mini-tracker developments based on Timepix4 promise an even larger sensitive surface area and further improved time resolution.