Progress report of the single particle irradiation system to cell (SPICE)

At National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), we constructed a microbeam system in 2003, named Single Particle Irradiation to Cell, SPICE. From the beginning of 2005, we redesigned it to improve the stability of the optical alignment of the system, and obtained an ensured reduction rate of the beam size proportional to the openness of the objective slit in the vertical line. As a result, SPICE is now capable of producing a beam size of approximately 10 micro meter diameter, and the numbers of particles are controllable to an intensity as low as single particles per second, and single particle irradiation has been succeeded. Moreover, these conditions can be easily reproduced with a routine everyday procedure. We describe in detail the modifications of the beam line and results indicating the improvements. In addition, the result of our first biological experiments is shown.10th International Conference on Nuclear Microprobe Technology and Application