The instrumental problem of measuring both precise transverse position of a particle beam and its fluence (intensity) has been a long-standing experimental challenge. While hardly any instrument is truly universal with respect to varying dynamic range requirements and resolution, a versatile, mechanically robust device that is radiation -resistant and relatively inexpensive, can find a wide array of applications in both scientific and academic experiments as well as in commercial applications. The proposed solution has emerged from the development of a conceptual solution to a practical problem of quality assurance in cancer treatment with proton beam, which has been presented to RDI, LLC by Mayo Clinic that is in process of commissioning its new clinical proton accelerator. A gas-filled ionizing radiation detector, based on the Micromegas technology, can provide the required resolution in both 2D spatial (extendable to 3D) and fluence domains, ensure low transparency to minimize the perturbation on the impinging particle beam and radiation resistance, withstanding exposure to radiation doses of over 50kGy (equivalent to ~5 yrs. of clinical use) with minimized deterioration of performance over time. A proposed multi-layer array arrangement is designed to provide high coordinate position resolution with fewer electronic readout channels, resulting in a cost-efficient instrument that will possess significant advantages over existing commercial solutions, most of which use solid-state detector technologies. Development, manufacturing, and commissioning and testing of a fully operable prototype detector that implements the proposed innovative array pattern, having an active area of at least 10cm2, spatial (X-Y) resolution of 1mm or better, and being capable of sampling proton beam flux of 106-1013 particles/cm2/s. Experimental confirmation and a comprehensive study of detector performance in both clinical and scientific / nuclear physics application will follow immediately thereafter. This project directly addresses most, if not all, subtopics in the SBIR/STTR solicitation in the general field of micropattern gas detectors, with an emphasis on innovative 2D readout, cost efficiency, and development of printed circuit boards that will have superior surface quality, allowing for scalability of the technology. The nuclear physics instrument to be built will be based on a solid scientific foundation, combined with innovative technological solutions, and has a potential to address a wide array of needs, by way of its potential multiple industrial as well as fundamental applications. While one of the primary goals and the most urgent of such applications is to improve treatment quality and to increase success rates in hadron and heavy ion clinical radiation treatment of cancer, the proposed device can provide direct benefit to several industries and has high potential for successful commercialization with its uses extending beyond nuclear physics research. Commercial Applications and Other
Benefits: The proposed project has direct commercial applicability and is envisioned as existing technology transfer, modification, and adaptation from the field experimental nuclear physics instrumentation into applied medical physics and general industrial use, while retaining important performance traits of a high-precision scientific instrument, of interest as an off-the-shelf option to general experimentalists in future scientific nuclear and particle research. This project stems from the existing commercial demand for such a device in a rapidly growing market of clinical proton therapy. Market studies (BCC Research HLC176A) indicate potential bulk capacity of the current medical devices market alone for a product (with similar technical specs to ours could be roughly estimated at $350 million over the next five years.
