Heavy-ion microbeam system at JAEA-Takasaki for microbeam biology

Funayama, Tomoo; Wada, Seiichi*; Yokota, Yuichiro; Fukamoto, Kana; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Taguchi, Mitsumasa; Kakizaki, Takehiko*; Hamada, Nobuyuki*; Suzuki, Michiyo; Furusawa, Yoshiya*; Watanabe, Hiroshi*; Kiguchi, Kenji*; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko

Research concerning cellular responses to low dose irradiation, radiation-induced bystander effects, and the biological track structure of charged particles has recently received particular attention in the field of radiation biology. Target irradiation employing a microbeam represents a useful means of advancing this research by obviating some of the disadvantages associated with the conventional irradiation strategies. The heavy-ion microbeam system at JAEA-Takasaki can provide target irradiation of heavy charged particles to biological material at atmospheric pressure using a minimum beam size 5 m in diameter. The system can be applied to the investigation of mechanisms within biological organisms not only in the context of radiation biology, but also in the fields of general biology such as physiology, developmental biology and neurobiology, and should help to establish and contribute to the field of "microbeam biology".