In vivo pink-beam imaging and fast alignment procedure for rat brain lesion microbeam radiation therapy

A fast 50 microm-accuracy alignment procedure has been developed for the radiosurgery of brain lesions in rats, using microbeam radiation therapy. In vivo imaging was performed using the pink beam (35-60 keV) produced by the ID17 wiggler at the ESRF opened at 120 mm and filtered. A graphical user interface has been developed in order to define the irradiation field size and to position the target with respect to the skull structures observed in X-ray images. The method proposed here allows tremendous time saving by skipping the swap from white beam to monochromatic beam and vice versa. To validate the concept, the somatosensory cortex or thalamus of GAERS rats were irradiated under several ports using this alignment procedure. The magnetic resonance images acquired after contrast agent injection showed that the irradiations were selectively performed in these two expected brain regions. Image-guided microbeam irradiations have therefore been realised for the first time ever, and, thanks to this new development, the ID17 biomedical beamline provides a major tool allowing brain radiosurgery trials on animal patients.