RT Journal Article
T1 Development and characterisation of a radiobiology proton beamline using radiochromic film dosimetry
A1 Marques Coelho, Carina
A1 de la Fuente Fernández, Pablo
A1 Bononad, Paula
A1 Viñals, Sílvia
A1 Tavares de Sousa, Célia
A1 Galaviz, Daniel
A1 Herrera, Federico
A1 del Monte-García, Inés
A1 Sánchez Parcerisa, Daniel
A1 Cortés-Llanos, Belén
AB Objective. To develop and optimise a dedicated low-energy proton beamline at the Centre for Micro-Analysis of Materials (CMAM, Madrid, Spain) for radiobiological applications. Approach. An automated irradiation system was implemented, integrating Gafchromic EBT3 radiochromic film dosimetry corrected for linear energy transfer dependent quenching and post-irradiation darkening. Dosimetric calibration was performed using multichannel analysis, and beam performance was systematically evaluated as a function of distance, raster scanning area, beam intensity and reproducibility. Main results. Optimal operating conditions were identified at moderate beam currents (⩽1nA) and scanning areas of 40 × 40 to 50 × 50mm2, yielding homogeneous dose distributions with reproducibility better than 8%. The dosimetric protocol demonstrated linearity across clinically relevant dose ranges and allowed a reliable correlation between irradiation parameters and absorbed dose. Proof-of-concept experiments on U-87 MG glioblastoma cells confirmed the system’s ability to deliver controlled and biologically effective proton exposures, as demonstrated by clonogenic survival assays. Significance. These results establish the CMAM implantation beamline as a robust and versatile platform for preclinical proton radiobiology, providing accurate dosimetric control and supporting investigations of relative biological efficacy. The system facilitates translational advances in proton radiobiology, bridging physical and biological studies in low-energy proton irradiation.
SN 0031-9155
YR 2026
FD 2026-04-15
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/136896
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/136896
LA eng
NO Marques Coelho, Carina, et al. «Development and characterisation of a radiobiology proton beamline using radiochromic film dosimetry». Physics in Medicine & Biology, vol. 71, n.o 8, abril de 2026, p. 085003. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ae5457.
NO © 2026 The Author(s).Firman 14 autores.FCT Mobility (1309428002/2024-25)Reforço do financiamento de Parcerias Internacionais em Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (RE-C06-i06-m02)Atraccion de Talento (2020-T1/IND-19889)
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
NO European Commission
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 jun 2026