Smart diagnostics for in situ light and particle beam imaging

The ability to characterise intense beams of photons, X-rays and particles fully transparent and in situ with supremely high precision opens up new directions in fundamental and applied sciences. Whether this is for the characterisation of nano-metre sized structures, to allow dynamic laser spot focusing at various depths of the material whilst cutting or to control the delivery and dose of a X-ray or particle beam during radiation therapy, the new technology excels in providing real-time measurements and outputs that can be used to apply fast corrections of beam shape, position and intensity. At the University of Manchester, a novel way to image intense beams fully transparent with high spatial resolution and a high update rate has been invented. The development has been driven by the needs of the current and future facility and end-user requirements in close collaboration with a couple of facility groups operating at the cutting edge of technology. The technology has been undergoing trials in close collaboration with selected users and has proven to be highly successful to the point that users want to buy and use this innovative technology. This interest, in turn, has led to a protection of the underlying method supported actively and financially by our technology transfer office (UMIP Ltd.) after an in depth evaluation of the commercial potential of the invention. Through meetings with potential license holders we have identified a preferred commercial partner that wants to introduce the technology commercially in 2010. They have helped us to define a strategy to go to market with our technology. This strategy calls for the development of two types of products that they want to introduce to the market. Their interest is understandable: if one considers the high quality of the produced technology demonstrators that is backed up by impressive evaluation results collected with collaborating users. But above all, the technology provides truly new diagnostics capabilities. For example, the ability to measure the cross-sectional intensity distribution (imaging) of the beam is unique and not available anywhere else. Also, the real-time image processing system that, through massive parallel processing, is able to extract essential data (integrated intensity, centre position and beam size) fast, removes the requirement of high-speed interfaces and off-line processing. A similar system is currently not available anywhere else on the market. Market research, from speaking directly to end users and potential licensees, shows that sales of the technology would be able to generate a significant volume of sales with both existing and new customers. It is our aim to create these two products within an 8-month period and to integrate a revised version of our real-time image processing module, to prepare a white paper which shows the performance and applications of our devices and to publish articles to inform potential customers. The funding would also give us resources to start developing further applications of the technology allowing us to create a product portfolio. Success of this proposal would support the research associate involved in the original work without loss of expertise, allowing the most efficient transfer of the technology from research and development to the commercial arena.