PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Sens.
Sec. Sensor Devices
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsens.2025.1597929
This article is part of the Research TopicParticle and radiation sensors developed at INFN-CSN5View all 3 articles
Miniaturized microdosimeters for hadron therapy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Legnaro National Laboratories (INFN), Legnaro, Italy
- 2Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
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Microdosimetry measures the stochastic fluctuations of energy imparted by radiation at the micrometer level and can provide measurable quantities linked to biological effectiveness. Reference instruments are Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counters, gas-filled detectors operated in single-event proportional mode with a chemical composition similar to biological materials. The Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN have extensive experience in the design and construction of miniaturized microdosimetric gas counters able to sustain the high fluence rates of hadron therapy beams without significant pile-up effects. This work discusses the current state-of-the-art detection technologies in microdosimetry for hadron therapy, with a focus on miniaturized gas counters. It describes in particular the development of engineered compact detectors optimized for use in clinics, featuring enhanced stability and reproducibility of response, carried out within INFN projects.
Keywords: Microdosimetry, Tissue-equivalent proportional counters, hadron therapy, BNCT, LET, radiation quality
Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Selva, Bianchi, Fazzi and Conte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Anna Selva, Legnaro National Laboratories (INFN), Legnaro, Italy
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