SPEAKER PROFILE *** Keynote Speaker *** |
 Institute Director, Professor for Accelerator Physics, Institute for Beam Physics and Technology (IBPT), KIT Germany |
Ultracompact electron accelerators for internal radiotherapy
Abstract
Radiotherapy (RT) using ionizing radiation is a cornerstone of cancer therapy. Current RT treatments for tumors inside the body mainly use external irradiation methods, which inevitably involve exposure of healthy tissue on the path to the tumor, leading to harmful side effects. Furthermore, current RT technologies and capabilities have reached their limits for additional significant improvements and access is limited due to increasing demand and high cost.
We are developing a radically new approach to RT, where relativistic electron beams are generated directly inside the body in the immediate proximity of the tumor. This enables treatment of tumors with high precision while healthy tissue is largely spared. To this end, we are developing ultracompact electron accelerators, which can enter the body through minimally-invasive endoscopes. We employ a novel light-driven electron acceleration mechanism that decreases the accelerator dimensions from the meter- to the micrometer scale, more than 1000 times smaller than conventional technology. Such devices have the potential to democratize precise individualized cancer treatment and make it accessible to a large number of patients in settings ranging from local doctors’ offices to eventually developing countries.
Since 2013, she is professor for accelerator physics at the KIT Department of Physics. From 2012 to 2016, she was one of the 3 directors responsible for the ANKA synchrotron radiation source at KIT. As head of a Helmholtz-University Young Investigator Group there, she previously dedicated herself to the generation of coherent terahertz radiation from ultrashort electron pulses in circular accelerators. In 2012, she was in charge of establishing the topic "Accelerator Research & Development" in the later program "Matter and Technologies" at KIT and has been its second spokesperson since 2019. She was one of the founders of the Committee for Accelerator Physics KfB in 2009 and its elected member until 2019. Since 2020 she is deputy speaker of the DFG Review Board 309 "Particles, Nuclei and Fields". She was and is a member of numerous scientific advisory boards of national and international institutions.
Anke-Susanne Müller was born in 1972. She studied at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, where she received her doctorate in 2000. She researches and teaches in the field of accelerator physics and innovative methods of diagnosis and control of ultrashort particle pulses as well as concepts for energy-responsible research infrastructures. In 2022, she received the 2022 Baden-Württemberg State Research Award for achievements in basic research groundbreaking contributions to enhancing the stability, compactness, and energy efficiency of particle accelerators.
Full CV at: KIT personal page
We are developing a radically new approach to RT, where relativistic electron beams are generated directly inside the body in the immediate proximity of the tumor. This enables treatment of tumors with high precision while healthy tissue is largely spared. To this end, we are developing ultracompact electron accelerators, which can enter the body through minimally-invasive endoscopes. We employ a novel light-driven electron acceleration mechanism that decreases the accelerator dimensions from the meter- to the micrometer scale, more than 1000 times smaller than conventional technology. Such devices have the potential to democratize precise individualized cancer treatment and make it accessible to a large number of patients in settings ranging from local doctors’ offices to eventually developing countries.
Bio
Anke-Susanne Müller heads the Institute for Accelerator Physics and Technology at KIT and is spokesperson of the "KIT Center for Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics KCETA" and the "Accelerator Technology Platform at KIT". She has been a member of the KIT Supervisory Board since 2019 and its Deputy Chairwoman from 2020 to 2023.Since 2013, she is professor for accelerator physics at the KIT Department of Physics. From 2012 to 2016, she was one of the 3 directors responsible for the ANKA synchrotron radiation source at KIT. As head of a Helmholtz-University Young Investigator Group there, she previously dedicated herself to the generation of coherent terahertz radiation from ultrashort electron pulses in circular accelerators. In 2012, she was in charge of establishing the topic "Accelerator Research & Development" in the later program "Matter and Technologies" at KIT and has been its second spokesperson since 2019. She was one of the founders of the Committee for Accelerator Physics KfB in 2009 and its elected member until 2019. Since 2020 she is deputy speaker of the DFG Review Board 309 "Particles, Nuclei and Fields". She was and is a member of numerous scientific advisory boards of national and international institutions.
Anke-Susanne Müller was born in 1972. She studied at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, where she received her doctorate in 2000. She researches and teaches in the field of accelerator physics and innovative methods of diagnosis and control of ultrashort particle pulses as well as concepts for energy-responsible research infrastructures. In 2022, she received the 2022 Baden-Württemberg State Research Award for achievements in basic research groundbreaking contributions to enhancing the stability, compactness, and energy efficiency of particle accelerators.
Full CV at: KIT personal page