LhARA Radiobiology Meeting: 17Sep26; 14:00 BST

ZOOM: ​https://imperial-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/98220889714?pwd=SM90vOF7BKSXoU3mD9q7OwBQo4IVB3.1

• Planning Document: ​https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OTARVtxhLRu02S6CLdRDB2QlGvCqDfZ3aWBifjIFs_Q/edit?tab=t.0

• Trello: ​https://trello.com/invite/b/67587c515b0c69656ee78b48/ATTIe86f94b24e3e5884e4cb87e5ed3b89ab64321B83/poplar

Attended: CD, KL, TP, RH, JMcG, SdL, MH, AFr, TG

Meeting Notes

1. Alternate Beamlines
   • ELIMED part of the next ELI submission?
     • YES
   • There appear to be calls for ELIMED every year
   • Template document put together for how to deal with problems raised in ELI rejection

2. BioPrep
   • Perodi Paper (Flacco et al) with RCF sandwich: 10.1038/s41598-025-01105-z
   • Check where the transwells are being delivered to
   • Preliminary analysis on using a 12mm diameter suggests CV drops below 5%, so technically no further beamline adjustment is necessary if the transwells at this size work.

3. Instrumentation
   • RCF
     • Updates on delaminated EBT4
       • Requested a quote and Ben Phoenix will buy a box, so should have some soon
   • Ben asked for a calibration of EBT3
     • Cal to send Tony as a zip
     • Alfredo will also have a look and see if he has the scans
   • SciFi
     • Simon is a Master's student who will join us till the end of February and will focus on the scifi array
     • There are spare days in November for use of the Cyclotron
     • We should book those and we can test the scifi there
     • Can also test the transwell setup with scifi around the edge
     • If nothing else can test a bundle of clear fibre to see if it scintillates
     • Tony can match our variation in beam, as long as there is enough time to simulate it beforehand and get the right scatterer
     • If it does scintillate, could remove that light by using a filter since the scintillation light from the transport fibre and the scintillation light from the array will have different wavelengths.
   • Fast electrons (Richard's and Giuseppe's notes)
     • Electrometer
       • With enough time, could be manually controlled between pulses
       • Measure off-axis
     • XDS Oxford IC SPEC
       • Thin-windowed ion chambers
       • £20K (maybe get on loan)
       • 20um thick
     • Giuseppe's Notes: The windowless chamber that I was thinking of, is an extrapolation chamber that determines absorbed dose by measuring the ionisation produced in a very small air cavities while varying the electrode separation and extrapolating the collected charge to zero cavity thickness (i.e. at the entrance of the chamber which is where the cells will be). However, for very low-energy proton beams, the proton range may be comparable to the cavity dimensions and the energy deposition can vary strongly over very short distances. Consequently, the extrapolation procedure would not work since the method relies on the assumption that the charged-particle fluence and dose distribution remain approximately uniform across the cavity.
   • Need a better understanding of the electron to proton distribution

4. Review Trello: ​https://trello.com/invite/b/67587c515b0c69656ee78b48/ATTIe86f94b24e3e5884e4cb87e5ed3b89ab64321B83/poplar

5. DoNM
   • 01/10/26

6. AoB

Summary of actions required

In-Beam Diagnostics

• Unassigned: Acquire a glass sheet
• Unassigned: Get a new RCF batch and calibrate
• TP: Testing delaminating EBT3
  • DONE?
• PH: Obtain transparent fibre or an alternative method for light transport
  • DONE
• PH: Obtain a lens for hollow fibre tests
  • DONE
• CD: Simulate energy deposited in transport fibres
• KL, CD, JMcG, SdL: Design a system to make full scifi prototypes
• KL, CD, JMcG, SdL: Make a full scifi prototype
• KL, CD, JMcG, SdL: Discuss visit to Birmingham to test SciFi
• RW, CD: Study the correlation between laser diagnostics and mean dose
• CW: Investigate the feasibility of ICTs for our beamline
• MH: Investigate LET detector
• CW: Ask Narender about air fluorescence implementation
• JMcG: Investigate using IF as a dosimeter
• GS, RH: Investigate fast electron diagnostic
• TP: Investigating commerical delaminated EBT4

Bio Next Steps

• EM, CD, JMcG: Write up technical summary of Phase 2
• EM: Write up a biology plan for a 2 PMQ setup
• Unassigned: Obtain an inverted microscope
• Unassigned: Obtain multi-chamber haemocytometers (Might be able to use Birmingham's)
• Unassigned: Obtain a thermostat for the incubator
• EM: Send cells to Rosh and Marie
• EM, MB, RA, JMcG: Run controls to examine how long the cells can survive vertically
• CW, AM: Show Alex around SCAPA
• MB, RA: Send specifications of and transwells to Tony to test at Birmingham
• MB, RA: Test transwells with x-rays
• KL: Share paper with interesting cell dishes (RCF sandwich)

Beamline Modelling

• Unassigned: Investigate how to improve the beamline beyond CV=8%
• CD: Examine energy spectra variation
• JMcG, ED: Discuss spectra fits and SCAPA source divergence
• JMcG: Talk to Darsebury to get more information on sensible dipole parameters

Alternate Beamlines

• JMcG: Simulate BELLA
• JMcG: Simulate ELI
• CD: Planning doc for ELI

---