Dr. Thilo Michel

Department of Physics

Our research (Medical Physics Group in the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics) is focused on measurements and detection of ionising radiation in medicine. Project examples are: development of spectroscopic x-ray pixel detectors in collaboration with CERN, development of an eye lens x-ray dosimeter for interventional radiography, radiation monitoring in FLASH radiation therapy, gamma dosimetry in collaboration with Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, interferometric x-ray imaging.

Research projects

  • Development of spectroscopic x-ray pixel detectors in collaboration with CERN: Since many years, ECAP is member of the internaional Medipix collaborations with seat at CERN. There we develop ultra-fast, high-granularity photon-counting, spectroscopic pixel detectors for ionising radiation imaging and dose measurements. ECAP contributes with medical applications to the development of new detectors.
  • Development of an eye lens x-ray dosimeter for interventional radiography: Here, we develop a small wearable electronics dosimeter to be used by radiologists in interventional radiography based on our own pixel detector Dosepix that has been developed in a collaboration between ECAP and CERN.
  • Radiation monitoring in FLASH radiation therapy: Within the international UHD-pulse consortium, we will investigate the use of pixel detectors, e.g. the Dosepix, for flux monitoring/for beam control in ultra-high dose rate radiation therapy (FLASH).
  • Gamma dosimetry in collaboration with Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt: Together with PTB in Braunschweig, we investigate the use of photon counting pixel detectors for measurements of equivalent doses in pulsed radiation fields and for high-flux spectroscopy.
  • Interferometric x-ray imaging: Here, we use and develop Talbot-Lau x-ray interferometers (3 microstructured gratings in the beam path) to measure images of the phase shift of x-ray waves through the object and to measure the granularity of the object on the micrometer scale.

Current projects

  • Optische Intensitätsinterferometrie mit den H.E.S.S. Gammastrahlungsteleskopen

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Term: 1. January 2020 - 31. December 2023
    Funding source: DFG-Einzelförderung / Sachbeihilfe (EIN-SBH)

    The aim of this project is to develop a system for optical intensity interferometry for the H.E.S.S gamma-ray telescopes in Namibia and to perform high-angular resolution measurement of stars in the V and R bands. The proposed project consists of three modules: a) development of the light-detection and electronics chain, b) development of the mechanical and optical struture and c) development of data analysis tools. We aim to demonstrate the feasibility of the full chain developed in this proposal to measure the stellar diameters of bright stars on timescales of a few hours (detect the signal at a projected 5-m baseline within minutes).

Recent publications

2023

2022

2021

2020

Related Research Fields

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