First results on proton radiography with nuclear emulsion detectors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel proton radiography technique using nuclear emulsion detectors, enabling high-accuracy imaging with low patient dose, demonstrated through initial experiments with phantoms.

Contribution

It presents the first implementation and testing of a nuclear emulsion-based proton radiography system for medical imaging.

Findings

Successful imaging of simple phantoms with the new detector

High accuracy in proton track reconstruction

Potential for low-dose medical imaging

Abstract

We propose an innovative method for proton radiography based on nuclear emulsion film detectors, a technique in which images are obtained by measuring the position and the residual range of protons passing through the patient's body. For this purpose, nuclear emulsion films interleaved with tissue equivalent absorbers can be used to reconstruct proton tracks with very high accuracy. This is performed through a fully automated scanning procedure employing optical microscopy, routinely used in neutrino physics experiments. Proton radiography can be used in proton therapy to obtain direct information on the average tissue density for treatment planning optimization and to perform imaging with very low dose to the patient. The first prototype of a nuclear emulsion based detector has been conceived, constructed and tested with a therapeutic proton beam. The first promising experimental results have been obtained by imaging simple phantoms.