Name: 21st Seminar of HITRIplus - A novel small animal irradiation platform for precision, image-guided proton IMPT delivery: from the initial concept to the first in vivo application
Start: 2025-12-10T17:00:00+01:00
End: 2025-12-10T18:05:00+01:00
Location: ZOOM

21st Seminar of HITRIplus - A novel small animal irradiation platform for precision, image-guided proton IMPT delivery: from the initial concept to the first in vivo application

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 - 5:00 PM

Monday, December 8, 2025
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
5:00 PM A novel small animal irradiation platform for precision, image-guided proton IMPT delivery: from the initial concept to the first in vivo application - Katia Parodi (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
A novel small animal irradiation platform for precision, image-guided proton IMPT delivery: from the initial concept to the first in vivo application
- Katia Parodi (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
5:00 PM - 5:45 PM
Mouse models are essential for advancing radiobiology research. However, their small size presents challenges for the precise delivery of modern radiation therapy. To address the limited availability of dedicated pre-clinical instrumentation in clinical proton environments, an innovative image-guided proton irradiation platform tailored to small-animal studies was developed as part of the ERC-funded project SIRMIO (Small Animal Proton Irradiator for Research in Molecular Image-guided Radiation Oncology). The portable SIRMIO system is designed to deliver ~20–50 MeV proton beams degraded from the lowest energy beam of a clinical facility and focused to a ~1 mm lateral size (1 sigma) in air at the isocenter. Multi-field intensity modulated proton treatment (IMPT) is delivered by well-controlled rotation/translation of the anaesthetized animal positioned upright in a custom-made holder, relying on a properly calibrated, in-house developed beam monitor. Treatment planning is performed on a research version of µRayStation using as input validated phase spaces of the SIRMIO pre-clinical beams. On-board pre-treatment imaging is provided by proton radiography with two Timepix3 detectors, while online treatment verification is achieved by a dedicated spherical in-beam positron-emission-tomography system. After thorough commissioning in different experimental campaigns, the platform has been used in vivo for normal tissue lung toxicity studies in fall 2024 and 2025 at the Danish Centre for Particle Therapy (DCPT). This presentation will outline the system development, key commissioning results, the workflow for in vivo studies, and insights from the first biological experiments, together with the future plans. Acknowledgement: The presenter would like to thank the current and past LMU SIRMIO team members, as well as the national and international collaborators from DCPT, RaySearch Laboratories, NIRS-QST, Advacam, Vacuumschmelze, Pyramid Technical Consultants, University Roma Tre, University of California, LMU Munich University Hospital, along with colleagues from the other facilities used for testing (CAL, CNAO, HIT, HZB, PSI, RPTC, TPTC) for their support. This work was funded by the European Research Council (grant agreement 725539) and received support from the Bavarian Californian Technology Centre and EU transnational access initiatives (projects INSPIRE and HITRIplus).
5:45 PM Discussion
Discussion
5:45 PM - 6:00 PM