Development of the CAS-LIBB single-particle microbeam for localized irradiation of living cells

摘要

A single-particle microbeam facility has been constructed at the Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering (LIBB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The system was designed to deliver a defined numbers of hydrogen ions, produced by a van de Graaff accelerator, in an energy range of 2.0-3.0 MeV, into an area smaller than that of the nucleus of an individual living cell. The beam is collimated by a borosilicate glass capillary that forms the beam-line exit. An integrated computer program recognizes the cells and locates them one by one over the microbeam exit for irradiation. We present technical details of the CAS-LIBB microbeam facility, particularly on the collimator, hardware, control program, as well as cell irradiation protocols available. Various factors contributing to the targeting and positioning precision are discussed along with accuracy measurement results.