LPT – Laser based Proton Therapy sysLPT – Laser based Proton Therapy system, Harnessing High Intensity Lasers Physics for Cancer Treatment Proton Therapy

Project Information

LPT

Grant agreement ID: 965586

DOI

10.3030/965586

Project closed

EC signature date 5 November 2020

Start date 1 December 2020

End date 30 November 2022

Funded under

• Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Total cost

€ 3 745 940,00

EU contribution

€ 2 697 045,50

Coordinated by

HIL APPLIED MEDICAL LTD
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LPT (LPT – Laser based Proton Therapy sysLPT – Laser based Proton Therapy system, Harnessing High Intensity Lasers Physics for Cancer Treatment Proton Therapy)

Reporting period: 2021-12-01 to 2022-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

What is the problem/issue being addressed?

Cancer is a global problem with 14.1 million new cases occurring annually and an expected increase of 68% by 2030. Ensuring effective and safe treatment remains a significant challenge for healthcare organisations. Studies have shown proton therapy to be effective in treating many types of tumours, including tumours of the prostate, brain, head and neck, central nervous system, lung, and gastrointestinal system as well as cancers that cannot be removed completely by surgery. Proton therapy is the most advanced type of external-beam radiation therapy that uses protons at high energy to destroy cancer cells. Proton therapy is routinely used for cancer treatment however it is limited by the sheer size and expense of the systems.

Why is it important for society?

There are currently only 66 operational proton therapy facilities in the world, addressing only 3-5% of clinical demand. LPT is developing a proton therapy system that overcomes the presented challenges, saving up to 50% space and reducing costs by up to 75%. LPT applies a patented approach to particle acceleration and beam delivery, combining nanotechnology with Nobel- Prizewinning ultra-high-intensity lasers and advanced magnetics. These technological breakthroughs enable meaningful reduction in the size, complexity and cost of proton therapy systems that will enable the widespread adoption of proton therapy both across Europe and globally. The technology is supported by

What are the overall objectives?
Scale-up product development capabilities by producing integrating and testing of PT-100 interaction chamber (= proton accelerator) and certain elements of the proton beam delivery system, with PT-1 laser.

for objectives pleas look on the objectives imeg

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work Package 1- Research and Development Capabilities Scale-Up

Objectives:
Scale-up product development capabilities by producing integrating and testing of PT-100 interaction chamber (= proton accelerator) and certain elements of the proton beam delivery system, with PT-1 laser.

Task1.1 – Establishing R&D Laboratory (M1 – M12, HIL, and THALES) – The company will establish an R&D laboratory including dedicated equipment that is adjusted for clinical level proton acceleration and delivery. The laboratory will include a Class 7 cleanroom, according to the ISO 14644-1 standard. In order to ensure accurate and stable

Status:

INFN sent Deliverable 2.1 – Design of EOS diagnostic for an ultra-high laser intensity interaction with a structured target
Hil sent Deliverable 2.2 - Design and implement CR and TOF diagnostics for proton-beam characterization

WP2 Electron Optical Sensing (EOS) Diagnostics adaptation

Objectives:
Adaptation of the EOS diagnostics to the PT system, requiring adjustment to high-intensity laser and complex targets; characterizing the PT-100 electron emission and proton beam.

Task 2.1 Design of the EOS diagnostic detection line (spatial imprinting) (M6-M7, INFN)
Task 2.2 Design and assembling of the EOS detection system comprehensive of two holders for the EOS crystal and SHG crystal for the fs-scale synchronization (M8-M12, INFN)
INFN will perform adjustment for complex targets which will be able to characterize the electron emission including time and charge. In order to do so, INFN will characterize: i) the effect of electron emission on proton emission; ii) the correlation and connection between electron charge of the electron beam and the proton generated by the accelerator. In order to characterize proton and electron emission and their correlation, it is needed to install an EOS diagnostic to measure the electron bunch charge and its temporal distribution. For this purpose, the synchronization with the interaction is crucial and should be in the range of few picoseconds. The use of passive diagnostics, such as permanent dipole and scintillator screens, can be also integrated to calibrate both the EOS and TOF detectors.

Status:

INFN sent Deliverable 2.1 – Design of EOS diagnostic for an ultra-high laser intensity interaction with a structured target
Hil sent Deliverable 2.2 - Design and implement CR and TOF diagnostics for proton-beam characterization


WP3 High-Power Ultrafast Tisa- TD CPA System Scale-UpTask

Objectives:
Design, fabrication, and test of a high energy nanosecond pump-laser at a repetition rate of 500Hz, for use in Ti:Sa amplifiers in future PT-100 system. The system will deliver 800 mJ pulse energy with 400W of average power at 500 Hz repetition rate.

Task 3.1 High energy pump-laser design (M01-M12, THALES) - this task will be divided into three main parts. First a preliminary design review of the Ti:Sa laser system for the proton therapy source will be developed at THALES. The global design will be discussed with partners of the project, especially HIL, and special work will be done on compactness and cost optimization of the system. Then, the development of high energy nanosecond pump lasers needs to be done to pump high average power Ti:Sa amplifier. The design will be performed at THALES facility with the goal of reaching at least 800mJ @ 532 nm, with a repetition rate of 500Hz. This will involve in particular development of two main sub-systems of the laser, namely the oscillator running at 500 Hz and the power amplifiers upgraded from 100Hz to 250Hz followed by temporal recombination in order to achieve 500Hz. At the same time, the optimisation of the doubling efficiency will be realized for the targeted repetition rate (i.e. 500Hz). A first mock-up will be set-up to explore different architectures to increase the repetition rate from 100Hz to 500Hz. After optimization of this, a critical design review will be conducted to define the architecture of the first prototype running at 500Hz. For all this development, the design will take into account cost, robustness, compactness, stability, and efficiency in order to meet the needs of commercial proton-therapy applications.

Status:

Thales sent deliver 3.1 “HIGH POWER ULTRAFAST TI-SA TD CPA SYSTEM SCALE-UP”

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In terms of the energy levels that HIL reaches, they are among the highest in the world compared to the laser that exists today
The laser system architecture shows the possibility of a laser at energy levels above 200TW with a high frequency above 100 Hz, which allows a dramatic change in the proton energy and in collaboration with the studies shows that there is a possibility for the clinical continuum of 160 MEV and expected Reach levels of 250 MEV.
After we completed the laboratory's advanced design phase, it appears in the laboratory file that the structure, infrastructure, and systems required for PT can converge into a much more compact and efficient structure than competing systems.
Thus significantly reducing construction and maintenance costs for the PT complex and particularly enabling medium-sized worldwide hospitals.
The design and specs we have produced proof that there is indeed social and economic viability to PT that the conservatory is developing

. Laser pre-pulse contrast in the HIL 2 TW system measured by fast photodiode

Images of proton trace detectors (CR-39) showing detection of high energy protons (in white), behind

Gantry layout with scanning magnets

Objectives

Figure 1. (a) Proton energy as a function of the incident artificial pre-pulse (APP) fluence at a co

Figure 1. (a) Schematic of the laser-target interaction setup. OAP → Off-Axis Parabola; MP → Main Pu

Figure Beam envelopes from Transport simulation (E=[157,163] MeV, slits open).