Speaker
Description
Nuclear inelastic interactions in carbon ion particle therapy treatments can lead to the fragmentation of the projectile, producing a non-negligible amount of dose deposition outside the planned target volume [1]. To improve the Monte Carlo simulation models adopted in the clinical treatment planning systems, the FOOT experiment of INFN [2] has been proposed for the measurement of the fragmentation cross sections of light ion beams (mainly 12C, 16O) in the range 200-700 MeV/u on C, C2H4. Other targets will be considered for measurements of interest for radioprotection in Space. The cross sections for the reactions on H can be extracted by performing a stoichiometric subtraction. By inverse kinematics the process of target fragmentation in p+C and p+O reactions, of interest for proton therapy, can be studied. The experimental setup is now practically completed. An overview of the status of the experiment and of some preliminary results will be presented. References [1] M. Durante and H. Paganetti, “Nuclear physics in particle therapy: a review”, Rep. Prog. Phys., vol. 79, no. 096702, 2016. [2] G Battistoni et al. “Measuring the impact of nuclear interaction in particle therapy and in radio protection in space: the foot experiment”, Frontiers in Physics, 8:555, 2021.
