Irradiation of 3D cell models at ultra-high dose rates

The short burst nature of laser accelerated protons and heavier ions makes possible the irradiation of cells at dose rates which can exceed 10^9 Gy/s. It is necessary to assess the biological responses of cells to these ultra-high dose rates if laser driven ion acceleration is to be of future biomedical use.

It is the aim of this project to undertake such an assessment by means of highlighting differences in biological responses which arise as a result of laser driven ion acceleration. Previous work in this area has focused on planar cell models which do not accurately represent the in vivo environment in which tumours develop in a number of key areas such as cell signalling, nutrient and metabolite gradients, differentiation, proliferation and hypoxic conditions.