Pre-clinical facilities
HollandPTC has a variety of pre-clinical research facilities. There is an R&D proton beamline, a biology, and a physics lab.
R&D proton beamline
The R&D bunker of HollandPTC is equipped with a fixed horizontal proton beamline, delivering a therapeutic proton beam with energies ranging from 70 MeV up to 250 MeV. The ProBeam superconductive cyclotron of Varian is able to deliver nominal beam currents from 1 nA up to 800 nA, with a transmission efficiency to the target position of 0.04% for the minimum energy up to 40% for the maximum energy. The therapeutic pencil beam with Gaussian profile in x and y is used for fundamental physics applications, device calibration and radiation hardness tests. Moreover, the beamline is equipped with a dual-ring passive scattering system which allows the production of large fields ranging from 2x2cm up to 20x20cm. Pristine Bragg peaks as well as Spread-Out Bragg peaks can be created. The passive system is well suited for radiobiological applications, such as in vitro and in vivo experiments.
Physics lab
The physics laboratory is a classified D-Lab where radiological and chemical work can be performed. The lab offers the tools for preparing setups for irradiation in the R&D bunker, chemical work in a fume hood and the radiation safety equipment needed for independent radiological experiments.
Biology lab
The biology laboratory is equipped with a confocal microscope, incubator, biosafety cabinet, freezer and fridge in order to perform basic cell culture work. Basic storage of consumables is also present. In the laboratory the biological specimen is prepared for proton irradiation and afterwards basic clonogenic survival analysis can be performed.
