Low current performance of the Bern medical cyclotron down to the pA range

Auger, Martin; Braccini, Saverio; Ereditato, Antonio; Nesteruk, Konrad Pawel; Scampoli, Paola (2015). Low current performance of the Bern medical cyclotron down to the pA range. Measurement science & technology, 26(9), 094006. Institute of Physics Publishing IOP 10.1088/0957-0233/26/9/094006

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A medical cyclotron accelerating H- ions to 18 MeV is in operation at the Bern University Hospital (Inselspital). It is the commercial IBA 18/18 cyclotron equipped with a specifically conceived 6 m long external beam line ending in a separate bunker. This feature is unique for a hospital-based facility and makes it possible to conduct routine radioisotope production for PET diagnostics in parallel with multidisciplinary research activities, among which are novel particle detectors, radiation biophysics, radioprotection, radiochemistry and radiopharmacy developments. Several of these activities, such as radiobiology experiments for example, require low current beams down to the pA range, while medical cyclotrons are designed for high current operation above 10 μA. In this paper, we present the first results on the low current performance of a PET medical cyclotron obtained by ion source, radio-frequency and main coil tuning. With this method, stable beam currents down to (1.5+/- 0.5 ) pA were obtained and measured with a high-sensitivity Faraday cup located at the end of the beam transport line.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics (AEC)
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Laboratory for High Energy Physics (LHEP)

UniBE Contributor:

Auger, Martin, Braccini, Saverio, Ereditato, Antonio, Nesteruk, Konrad Pawel, Scampoli, Paola

Subjects:

500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0957-0233

Publisher:

Institute of Physics Publishing IOP

Language:

English

Submitter:

Tommaso Stefano Carzaniga

Date Deposited:

23 Jun 2016 09:50

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:56

Publisher DOI:

10.1088/0957-0233/26/9/094006

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.83522

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/83522

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