BIOTRACK PROJECT

The BIOTRACK project aims to develop a new generation of Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors (FNTD) based on a tissue-equivalent material, lithium fluoride, combined with biocompatible thin films of microgels for cell culture that are of interest for radiobiological experiments with ionizing radiation.

Study of radiobiological efficiency in hadrontherapy requires the number of incident ions, their direction and the energy deposited within the single cells to be well known for obtaining the locally-delivered radiation dose and the exact positions of the particle tracks through the cell.

These innovative detectors - compact, reusable and with high spatial resolution - exploit photoluminescence optical readout by conventional optical and confocal laser microscopes, which are widely employed in life science laboratories. Their performances will be compared with those of conventional detectors and dosimeters.

Applications of these innovative FNTDs based on lithium fluoride span from hadrontherapy to neutron detectors for energy, nuclear safety and aerospace.