Radiation and particle therapy are techniques widely used in cancer treatments, in continuous progress. In this context, new systems for complex radiotherapy treatment verification are being developed. RADIA is the Seville collaboration which involves the Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics (FAMN) and the Engineering School of the University of Seville (US), the Basic Nuclear Physics group at CNA, the Virgen Macarena Hospital and the private company Inabensa S. A. RADIA was established to study the feasibility of using silicon strip detectors to verify complex radiotherapy treatments. In addition to RADIA, the Department of FAMN and CNA took part into the “Diagnostic Techniques for future particle Accelerators Network” (DITANET), and take part into other European projects such as the international collaboration “Fragments and Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy” (FIRST) and “optimization of Particle Accelerators” (oPAC). In this contribution we focus on the description and first tests of a new detector and its particularly designed DAQ, which are part of a specifically conceived and developed dose verification system, in order to improve the spatial resolution and the acquisition time for the verification of a whole treatment. The novel online system is composed by: a) the new detector; b) the data acquisition system (DAQ); c) a control interface for the DAQ; d) a mechanical phantom also specifically designed to store the detector minimizing the air gap; e) reconstruction algorithms for the dose map and Monte Carlo simulations. Through the collaboration between the University of Seville and the private Spanish company ATI Sistemas S.L., a dual chip 32x32 single sided silicon strip detector was proposed to Micron Semiconductor Ltd. (UK), which was the company responsible for constructing it. This is the first silicon strip detector in which the whole composition is based specifically on clinical constraints. A new data acquisition system with 64 channels has been specifically designed for this application, with the capability of reading every strip of the detector, allowing to take the maximum advantage of its sensitivity. We present the study of the response of the DAQ versus the characteristics of the integrator of the current generated by the radiation. This study aims to optimize the capacitors charge curve as a function of the applied radiation.

Resumen del póster presentado al CPAN Workshop on Technology Transfer, celebrado en Sevilla (España) del 24 al 25 de junio de 2013.-- et al.

Peer reviewed