Towards a compact experimental setup for microdosimetry

Microdosimetry measures the stochastic fluctuations of the imparted energy in a target of micrometric size. The reference devices are the Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counters (TEPCs), gas detectors working in the proportional regime that have a chemical composition similar to the human tissue [1]. At the Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN, miniaturized TEPCs were developed to cope with the very high fluence rates of hadron therapy beams [2]. Generally they work in gas-flow mode to ensure the stability in time of the gas gain; however, a new mini-TEPC designed to work in sealed mode was developed recently [3], to address the need for a compact system suitable for a clinical facility. (author)