The INSIDE project: On-line monitoring and simulation validation with the in-beam PET scanner

The quality assurance of particle therapy treatment is a fundamental issue that can be addressed by developing reliable monitoring techniques and indicators of the treatment plan accuracy. Monitoring using Position Emission Tomography (PET) systems is the only in-vivo non invasive technique employed clinically and has been carried out in particle therapy since 1997. However, the PET monitoring of β + emitter isotopes is typically done after the treatment, resulting in a large fraction of lost data because of the isotopes rapid physical decay. The INSIDE collaboration has recently installed an in-beam PET scanner at the Italian National Center of Oncologic Hadrontherapy in Pavia, Italy. Here, there is an ongoing project in order to start testing the method on patients. This work focuses on the online performances of the scanner with clinical beams.