ALPhANOV presents XPulse project first results to the Technological Alliance of Laser and Health Committee.

Thursday, September 12^th, 2019, ALPhANOV held the Technological Alliance of Laser and Health committee in the Institute of Optics of Aquitaine. The different partners presented their first-phase results and discussed the upcoming phase 2 milestones for the Technological Alliance of Laser and Health.

Projects presentation

The Technological Alliance of Laser and Health brings together three industrial R&D projects, collaborative R&D and academic research:

• LEAP: the project aims to develop technological bricks for a new generation of high-power medium and high energy lasers.
• CONVERGENCE: the project aims to develop next-generation laser components to increase industrial lasers energy and average power.
• XPulse: the project aims to develop a phase contrast mammography system based on X-ray source generated by laser and dedicated to the early detection of breast cancer.

Alliance Phase 2 confirmed

The Alliance meeting, which took place on Thursday, September 12^th, was the opportunity for all partners to present their results half-way through the full project duration. Objectives for phase 2 were also discussed, and communication and valorisation actions were planned.

In conclusion, the Phase 1 deliverables and milestones of the Alliance projects were achieved, and every partner is now focused on phase 2 which will start on first January 2020 for a period of 3 years.

First laser shots

At this meeting, ALPhANOV presented, as part of the XPulse project, the results obtained following the first successful laser generated X-ray generation and detection tests.

These first tests were performed with a MAGMA 25 laser supplied by Amplitude Laser Group, a project partner. The MAGMA 25 is an ultrashort laser capable of generating pulses up to 25 mJ at a frequency of 100 Hz.

The first laser shots were made on a target system which was designed by the XPulse project team within the ALPhANOV Technology Center. These initial tests were very conclusive and confirmed the team's technological choices regarding the integration of this laser X-ray source into a preclinical mammography imaging system. The latter will be developed during the second phase of the project and will be installed in the project premises recently received at the BioImaging Institute (IBIO) at the Bordeaux University Hospital.