My research focusses on the development of beam diagnostics and dosimetry methods for the use of Very High Energy Electrons (VHEE) of 50-250 MeV for radiotherapy at ultrahigh high dose rates (UHDR), such as those required to elicit the FLASH effect when treating deep-seated tumours.
In conventional radiotherapy, ionisation chambers are used within the medical LINACs to provide an online, real-time dose monitoring system. However at UHDR the response of the ionisation chamber becomes non-linear and saturates due to the recombination effect. I am investigating and developing alternative technologies for this purpose, with a focus on scintillating and optical fibre-based monitors, which are then tested at the CLEAR user facility at CERN.