https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02167-4
Regular Article
TOP-IMPLART accelerator: development toward a user facility
NUC-TECFIS-ACP, ENEA Frascati Research Center, Via Enrico Fermi, 45, 00044, Frascati, RM, Italy
a
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Received:
4
July
2024
Accepted:
27
January
2026
Published online:
18
February
2026
Abstract
Terapia Oncologica con Protoni-Intensity Modulated Proton Linear Accelerator for RadioTherapy (TOP-IMPLART) is an radio frequency (RF) pulsed linear accelerator developed at the ENEA Frascati Research Center as a prototype of a proton therapy system based on a “full linear” layout. Proton beams with energies between 1 and 6 MeV and between 63 and 71 MeV are currently available for experimentation. Presently, due to the growing interest in proton beams with characteristics similar to those available from TOP-IMPLART in different fields of application, a strong effort is addressed to evolve the prototype towards a facility available for research and industrial users. This paper describes the setup, the tools employed to monitor the parameters of interest (dose, fluence, and flux) and the experimental results of the beam characterization measurements. An overview of the different applications of the facility is also presented, ranging from the bio-medical field including radiobiology studies for the investigation of FLASH therapy mechanisms up to the aerospace sector for studying the effects of radiation exposure on biological systems and electronic components.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
