IDORA

Flash radiotherapy consists of applying very high intensity ionizing radiation doses to tumors over a very short period of time, from 10 to 100 Gy/s, i.e. doses up to 1000 times higher than those administered in conventional radiotherapy.
It is necessary to ensure the right dose and the right positioning of the beam received by the patient.
But this new technology is facing the saturation of current detectors. It is therefore crucial for its development to be able to propose new sensors, appropriate to these very high powers.

Current detectors are confronted with a situation of saturation of the ionization chamber, due to the fact that the numerous charged particles, generated in the substrate, start to recombine when they drift towards the collection electrodes. The signal is reduced, difficult to measure and its spatial properties are not known.
IDORA answers this problem. It allows to accurately measure the characteristics of a high power beam in real time, as well as the spatial distribution of this power. This sensor has been designed with a view to minimizing its size and making it easy to use.

The high power beams can be monitored in real time, and in 2D with the quasi transparent sensor, which features high radiation hardness. The overall dynamic of the system ranges from 1 to 1 000 000. Beams up to 1 MW can be characterized.

The composite system: sensor/electronics/purposeful control interface is being designed. The reference sensor will soon be upgraded with state-of-the-art microelectronic technology. The electronic readout will be tested accordingly. Tests with industrial partners are to be carried out before the summer.

Flash radiotherapy is one of the future therapies for treating tumors; clinical studies are underway.
But high energy particle beams are also used in industry, especially for polymer cross-linking, and IDORA could be adapted to monitor installations for these applications.