A compact biological cell irradiation system with a Van de Graaff accelerator

Abstract

This report describes the development of a compact microcell irradiation system in the 3 MV MN Van de Graaff accelerator in the Accelerator Laboratory of National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). The main feature of this system is backscattering, a technique whereby a 100 nm gold scattering foil is placed in the center of a scattering chamber, instead of a 90 bending magnet. The incident particles produced by the accelerator bombard the scattering foil and scatter isotropically. A set of micro pinholes was installed above the scattering foil and directed the 90 scattering particles to irradiate the cell target. This innovation simplifies the system design and massively reduces the cost and space requirements for system construction. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.