This in vivo murine model delves more into the mechanics of how to best exploit the magic of FLASH-RT. In other words, just how flashy does it have to be? Apparently, that depends on the radiosensitivity of the side effect at hand—or hindleg in this case. When delivering the same total dose to right hindlegs with varying dose-rates from roughly 1-80 Gy per second, side effects typically observed at the lowest doses (think mild erythema) required the highest dose-rates to mitigate, while side effects typically observed at higher total doses (think moist desquamation) were mitigated with even the lowest FLASH dose-rates. Remember, conventional dose-rates are a paltry ∼0.05 Gy per second. Another insight was introducing 2-minute pauses during dose delivery diminished the FLASH effect consistent with prior data suggesting FLASH is best delivered in a single pulse. | Sørensen, Int Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2024
