Single ion bombardment of living cells at LIPSION

Abstract We report on the development of an irradiation platform for living cells at the Leipzig nanoprobe LIPSION and on first irradiation experiments. The platform enables cell irradiation with targeted and counted ions (H + , He + ) (2–3 MeV) in specially constructed mini-Petri dishes in vertical position in air. The use of a 200 nm (Si 3 N 4 ) thick Petri dish irradiation window, a 100 nm (Si 3 N 4 ) thick beam exit window and the high precision beam positioning ensure a hit accuracy significantly better than 0.5 μm. Hit verification tests using CR-39 are shown. For the cell irradiation we seeded epithelial cells (HUVEC) in the special irradiation Petri dishes. Initially, we tested parameters such as attachment, survival and sedentariness of the cells on the irradiation window. After 14 h about 50% of the seeded cells attached to the window with sufficient survival and sedentariness. The cell handling for the irradiation procedure did not significantly affect the cells. The first patterned irradiation experiments were carried out with 2.25 MeV protons.