Labs and instruments

Synchrotron Radiation for Medical Physics

SYRMEP beamline at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste

The SYnchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics (SYRMEP) beamline has been designed for research in medical diagnostic radiology. The use of the monochromatic and laminar-shaped beams allows, in principle, an improvement of the clinical quality of images and a reduction of adsorbed dose (because of both monochromaticity and scatter reduction). Considerable interest is generated by a digital detector (under commissioning), which provides high contrast resolution and a very wide dynamic range. Moreover, the spatial coherence of the SYRMEP source is used to overcome the poor absorption contrast of many biological samples, by the use of phase-contrast techniques. At SYRMEP, in addition to medical diagnostic experiments, a large number of different microtomography experiments can be performed in the fields of materials science, geology, vulcanology, cultural heritage, biomedical imaging etc.

Contact: Giuliana Tromba
Tel: +39 040 375 8587 (office) | +39 040 375 8096 (beamline)

Technical specifications

The present monochromator, which covers the entire angular acceptance of the beamline, is based on a double Si (111) crystals working in Bragg configuration. The useful energy range is 8.3 – 35 keV. The intrinsic energy resolution of the monochromator of 10^-4 is reduced to about 4×10^-3 because of the natural divergence of the beam. Typical flux measured at the sample position at 17 keV, at 2 GeV, with a stored beam of 300 mA, is about 1.6*10⁸ ph/mm².

Sample environment

The following facilities are availablke for users:

• High-resolution traslators and cradles for remote control movements;
• Sliding rail for phase-contrast (PHC)imaging (distance from sample to CCD range from 3cm up to 180 cm);
• Micro-positioning stage (+/-0.05um resolution/bidirectional repeatability);
• Bragg magnifier;
• X-Ray diffraction topography (XRT);
• Cooling stage for microtomography;
• Environmentally Controlled System for hygroscopic samples;
• a Laue camera.

Detailed information can be found on the beamline’s main homepage.