AbstractID: 7784 Title: Laser-accelerated protons for radiation therapy
Recent developments in the field of laser engineering, specifically the
invention of chirped pulse amplification technique made it possible to
achieve laser light intensities reaching 1022 W/cm2 range. In this review, we
will show that such laser intensities are sufficient to accelerate protons to
therapeutic energy ranges, provided that proper laser-target parameters are
chosen. In the majority of recent laser-matter interaction experiments, the
proton energy spectra coming out of the interaction chamber are thermal
making it impossible to use these protons in hadron therapy. This
necessitates the development of a particle selection device that would deliver
quasi-monoenergetic particles suitable for medical applications. We will
discuss earlier proposed particle selection system and show the dosimetric
characteristics of protons coming out of this device. Using “real” patient
data and physical characteristics (phase-space distribution) of selected
particles we will discuss the inter-comparison studies between photon
intensity-modulated plans on one hand and intensity-modulated plans based
on laser-accelerated protons on the other. In concluding remarks, we will
describe the current challenges facing the project and ways to resolve them.