Fig. 1.

The setup for precision mice thorax irradiation by high-LET carbon-ions irradiation. Mouse was immobilized in a specially designed polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) holder for whole thoracic irradiation. The beam field was shown as highlighted rectangle in yellow color. The delivered dose to the lung was at the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) of carbon-ions as demonstrated by the experimental sketch. The homogenous and conformal particle dosing in the lung was verified by the entrance and exit films with rare scattering doses. The back film (#2) also evidenced that the lung was entirely covered with carbon-ions independent of breath motions. The irradiated region was eventually evidenced with white hair at the endpoint of 24 weeks, which was in consistent to the treatment plan.