ELIMAIA-ELIMED: a new user platform for radiobiological research utilizing laser-driven protons
The ELIMAIA-ELIMED beamline, powered by the L3 HAPLS petawatt laser, enables the irradiation of biological samples with intermediate-energy laser-driven protons (LDP) in a multi-shot regime. In the pilot radiobiological experiment, protons with a mean energy of ∼24 MeV and doses up to ∼14 mGy per shot, with ∼4 ns bunch duration, were used to irradiate AG01522 normal human skin fibroblasts. The shortest irradiation time achieved was down to ∼17 min/Gy, while the mean and peak dose rates reached ∼1 × 10 −3 and 3.5 × 10 6 Gy/s, respectively. The cells were exposed to doses ranging from ∼0.4 to 1.5 Gy and analyzed for DNA damage, with double-strand breaks visualized as 53BP1 foci. Despite the differences in shot exposures between the multi-shot LDP and the previous experiments (at other facility) with single-shot LDP, similar DNA damage responses were observed. Results with conventionally accelerated protons align closely with the corresponding single-shot LDP samples. These experimental results were achieved as part of the flagship experiment FLAIM (within the IMPULSE EU-funded project) and serve as an initial demonstration of the ELIMAIA-ELIMED platform’s potential for advanced radiobiological research, creating new opportunities for such studies utilizing laser-driven ion sources.
Authors
- Giorgio Ivan Russo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1493-1087)
- Katalin Hidéghety (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7080-2365)
- Maksym Tryus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-5051)
- Giada Petringa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2854-8436)
- Marie Davídková (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1057-3091)
- Pavel Bláha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8358-167X)
- L. Giuffrida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4145-4829)
- Vladimír Vondráček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5301-0101)
- Giuseppe Schettino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3284-3953)
- D. Doria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8776-5791)
- Matěj Navrátíl
- Roberto Catalano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3973-2551)
- M. Borghesi
- F. Schillaci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3628-5880)
- Luca E. Vannucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6827-9296)
- G.A.P. Cirrone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5733-9281)
- V. Istokskaia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4768-9207)
- Jakub Novák (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4903-2479)
- Petr Szotkowski
- Pankaj Chaudhary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0381-3635)
- A. Pappalardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5497-8969)
- Lorenzo Manti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0168-5040)
- Kevin M. Prise (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6134-7946)
- Francesco Paolo Cammarata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0554-6649)
- Giusi Irma Forte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0161-9828)
- D. Margarone
- Filip Grepl
- E.R. Szabó
- Adrian McCay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7853-8699)
Institutions
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- National Physical Laboratory (GB)
- University of Szeged (HU)
- ELI-HU Research and Development Non-Profit (HU)
- Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology (IT)
- Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines (CZ)
- Proton Therapy Centre (CZ)
- Institute of Microbiology (BY)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (IT)
- The Northern Ireland Cancer Centre (GB)
- Institute for Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology (IT)
- Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (RO)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Nuclear Physics Institute (CZ)
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Physics
- Published
- 2025-04-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2025.1567622
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.52