X-ray generation at SPARC LAB Thomson backscattering source

In the last years, the phase contrast X-ray imaging became a very promising technique, in particular for medical application. At this purpose, several compact and very performing X-ray sources are growing up all around the world and most of them are based upon the Thomson backscattering phenomenon. This is the context of the SPARC LAB Thomson backscattering X-ray source, presently under commissioning at INFN-LNF. Here a head-on collision is foreseen at the Thomson Interaction Point between a 30 to 150MeV electron beam and the 250TW FLAME laser pulse, providing a photon energy tunability in the range from 20 to 250 keV. The first experiment foresees the generation of a X-ray beam, useful for X-ray imaging of mammographic phantoms with the phase contrast technique. In February 2014, the SPARC LAB Thomson source produced its very first X-ray beam. The shift and the obtained results are presented

Emergency endovascular management of the common femoral artery rupture due to radiotherapy for scrotal carcinoma

We describe the case of a 72-year-old man with massive hemorrhage and shock resulting from rupture of the left common femoral artery as a complication of radiotherapy in the groin for cancer of the scrotum. This complication is extremely rare, presents dramatically, and is usually fatal. The patient was successfully treated with a stent graft deployment in order to achieve immediate hemostasis maintaining blood flow to the leg. Open surgery is not ideal in those cases especially when there is extensive tumor involvement of the groin causing altered anatomy and increasing the risk of re-bleeding

Quadrupole scan emittance measurements for the ELI-NP compton gamma source

The high brightness electron LINAC of the Compton Gamma Source at the ELI Nuclear Physics facility in Roma- nia is accelerating a train of 32 bunches with a nominal total charge of 250 pC and nominal spacing of 16 ns . To achieve the design gamma flux, all the bunches along the train must have the designed Twiss parameters. Beam sizes are mea- sured with optical transition radiation monitors, allowing a quadrupole scan for Twiss parameters measurements. Since focusing the whole bunch train on the screen may lead to permanent screen damage, we investigate non-conventional scans such as scans around a maximum of the beam size or scans with a controlled minimum spot size. This paper discusses the implementation issues of such a technique in the actual machine layou

Successful endovascular treatment of a 13 cm abdominal aortic aneurysm. Case report

There is increasing evidence in the literature that endovascular aneurysm repair is the first-line approach for most of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Furthermore aortouniiliac stent graft placement is, in high risk patients or during emergency setting, a safe procedure over the mid- and long-term period and compares well with the results of bifurcated stent grafts. We present a case of a 66 -year-old gentleman, with pneumothorax after therapeutic thoracentesis and a giant AAA, successfully treated with an aortomonoiliac stent grafting and femoro-femoral crossover bypass

RF Design of the X-band Linac for the EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB Project

We illustrate the RF design of the X-band linac for the upgrade of the SPARC_LAB facility at INFN-LNF (EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB). The structures are travelling wave (TW) cavities, working on the 2π/3 mode, fed by klystrons with pulse compressor systems. The tapering of the cells along the structure and the cell profiles have been optimized to maximize the effective shunt impedance keeping under control the maximum value of the modified Poynting vector, while the couplers have been designed to have a symmetric feeding and a reduced pulsed heating. In the paper we also present the RF power distribution layout of the accelerating module and a preliminary mechanical design

Early results of mechanochemical ablation with Flebogrif® in great saphenous vein insufficiency: does polidocanol concentration affect outcome?

Flebogrif® (Balton, Poland) is a novel mechanochemical ablation (MOCA) device for saphenous vein insufficiency. It combines endothelial damage performed by radial retractable cutting hooks together with chemical ablation through sclerosant injection of 3% polidocanol foam according to its IFU. The objective of this study is to evaluate Flebogrif's efficacy in terms of recanalization rate and recurrence by varying polidocanol foam concentrations