Upgrade of the proton Computed Tomography system of the PRIMA project

Abstract

In this paper a first proprietary apparatus to undergo proton computed tomography (pCT), manufactured in the framework of the PRIMA (PRoton IMAging) project (INFN-CSN5), will be described. The system, able to carry out single projections at different rotating angles of the phantom, is characterized by a field of view of about 5×5cm2 and an acquisition time of the order of 10s (10 kHz, 105 events). The complete system has been characterized with 62MeV protons at Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS-INFN) and first radiographic and tomographic images have been reconstructed: main results will be shown and discussed. The design and manufacture of a novel prototype of pCT system for pre-clinical applications is now under development. The system is characterized by: (a) a larger active area and (b) an acquisition system able to store data from a whole tomographic image without dead times. All details will be discussed. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence.