Radiotherapy has shown some efficacy for epilepsies but the insufficient confinement of the radiation dose to the pathological target reduces its indications. Synchrotron-generated X-rays overcome this limitation and allow the delivery of focalized radiation doses to discrete brain volumes via interlaced arrays of microbeams (IntMRT). Here, we used IntMRT to target brain structures involved in ...

The micro-irradiation technique continues to be highly relevant to a number of radiobiological studies in vitro. In particular, studies of the bystander effect show that direct damage to cells is not the only trigger for radiation-induced effects, but that unirradiated cells can also respond to signals from irradiated neighbours. Furthermore, the bystander response can be initiated even when no...

A particle beam of very small cross-section is useful in many accelerator applications including biological and medical ones. We show the capability of channeling technique using a micron-sized structure on a surface of a single crystal, or using a nanotube, to produce beam of a cross-section down to 1 square micrometer (or nanometer). The channeled beam can be deflected and well separated in a...

Microbeams are ideally suited to the study of so-called ‘non-targeted’ phenomena that are now known to occur when living cells and tissues are irradiated. Non-targeted effects are those where cells are seen to respond to ionising radiation through pathways other than direct damage to the DNA. One such phenomenon is the ‘bystander effect’; the observation that unirradiated cells can be damaged t...

Charged particle therapy is increasingly becoming a valuable tool in cancer treatment, mainly due to the favorable interaction of particle radiation with matter. Its application is still limited due, in part, to lack of data regarding the radiosensitivity of certain cell lines to this radiation type, especially to high-linear energy transfer (LET) particles. From the earliest days of radiation ...

At the microscale, even moderate temperature differences leading to thermal nonequilibrium can result in significant Knudsen forces generated by the energy exchange between gas molecules and solids immersed in a gas. Experimental measurements of the microscale Knudsen force have been reported by Passian et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 124503 (2003) using heated microcantilevers of atomic force mic...

OBJECTIVE Teeth can serve as records of environmental exposure to heavy metals during their formation. We applied a new technology - synchrotron radiation microbeams (SRXRF) - for analysis of heavy metals in human permanent teeth in modern and historical samples. METHODS Each tooth was cut in half. A longitudinal section 200 mum in thickness was subjected to the determination of the heavy met...