Speaker
Description
Electron accelerators based on the so-called Laser WakeField Acceleration process, whose experimental study has been mostly taken place over the past 20-30 years, have now reached a sufficient maturity to be considered for several applications. Among these, their use as compact devices for novel, and possibly more effective, radiotherapy modalities is deserving a great and growing attention. At the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory of CNR-INO in Pisa, research is rapidly progressing toward the development of compact and flexible laser-driven accelerators of so-called Very High Energy Electrons (VHEE) beams (with energy in the range $\sim\mathrm{100\!-\!250MeV}$) suitable for direct electron radiotherapy. Technology transfer is also ongoing, ultimately aiming at a clinical translation of this technology, via a newborn start-up company. An overview of recent experiments and technological developments will be provided, and the perspectives for an actual translation to the clinical practice in the medium term will be shown.
