The goal of the project is to develop a method for time-resolved imaging of transmitted energetic ion beams in view of several possible future clinical applications at the Heidelberg Ion beam Therapy center (HIT). These include pre-treatment verification of residual ion beam range for tumors in stationary and moving anatomical locations. In the latter case, additional intra-treatment operation is envisioned to provide valuable information on the magnitude of range uncertainties in the motion cycle close in time to the therapeutic irradiation.



Finally, pre-treatment tomographic recovery of the stopping power maps of the traversed tissue will be pursued as a means to evaluate range uncertainties in conventional treatment planning based on X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) imaging. The possibility to replace the X-ray CT patient model and thus to eliminate the current major source of range uncertainty in ion beam treatment planning will also be investigated.

This work will realize and experimentally validate a new generation, compact and fully integrated range telescope system based on a stack of ionization chambers (IC) for pencil-beam range probing (1D) as well as planar (2D) and volumetric (3D) imaging. It will include time-resolved (4D) operation for synchronization not only with the dynamic beam delivery but also with the movement of the target itself as monitored by external motion sensors.
The planned experimental investigations will enable evaluation of the clinical potential of the method in comparison to the nowadays used imaging techniques such as post-radiation PET (Positron Emission Tomography) /CT imaging with respect to the ultimate goal of promoting high precision ion beam therapy.