Telephone: (631) 344-7696 
e-mail: dilmanian@bnl.gov

Microbeam Radiation therapy 
Monochromatic x-ray radiography and 
CT Diffraction-enhanced radiography and CT 

Research Interests

Avraham Dilmanian’s work focuses on the use of x-ray beams from the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) in radiation therapy and medical imaging. Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), which uses arrays of parallel, microplanar slices of x-ray microbeams, each typically 50 µm thick and up to several centimeters high, typically spaced 200 µm apart, has shown two remarkable effects on laboratory vertebrates. First, single-fraction microbeam irradiation does not damage normal tissues at doses where conventional broad beams produce several tissue damage. Second, single-fraction MRT kills some types of malignant tumor models by irradiation from a single direction, at doses safe to normal tissues. The method is being further studied for its potential in radiotherapy. Dilmanian has been a pioneer in the filed of computed tomography (CT) using monochromatic x rays. His current research includes, first, development of bent-crystal monochromators for narrowing the x-ray energy spectrum in clinical angiography and CT, to be used in conjunction with new contrast agents based on gadolinium from Schering AG, Germany. Second, his group, together with Dr. Zhong Zhong of the NSLS, have been the first to implement, in the CT mode, the new mammography method "Diffraction-Enhance Imaging (DEI)". They plan to extend the method to higher-energy beams (40-100 keV) for whole-body radiography and CT.

Education & Concurrent Positions

B.Sc. Technion, Israel Institute of technology, 1970; M.Sc. Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, 1973; Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1980

Selected Publications

Dilmanian F.A., Button T.M., Le Duc G., Zhong N., Peña L.A., Smith J.A.L., Martinez S.R., Bacarian T., Tammam J., Ren B., Farmer P.M., Kalef-Ezra J., Micca P.L., Nawrocky M.M., Niederer J.A., Recksiek F.P., Fuchs A., Rosen E.M. Response of rat intracranial 9L gliosarcoma to microbeam radiation therapy. Neuro-Oncology 4:26-38, 2002.

Dilmanian F. A., Morris G. M., Le Duc G., Huang X., Ren B., Bacarian T., Allen J. C., Kalef-Ezra J., Orion I., Rosen E. M., Sandhu T., Sathé P., Wu X.Y., Zhong Z., Shivaprasad H. L. Response of avian embryonic brain to spatially segmented x-ray microbeams. Cell. Mol. Biol. 47:485-494, 2001.

Dilmanian F.A., Zhong Z., Ren B., Wu X.Y., Chapman L.D., Orion I., Thomlinson W.C. Computed tomography of x-ray index of refraction using the diffraction enhanced imaging method. Phys. Med. Biol. 45:933-946, 2000.

Laissue J.A., Geiser G., Spanne P.O., Dilmanian F.A., Gebbers J.-O, Geiser M., Wu X.Y., Makar M., Micca P., Nawrocky M., Joel D.D., Slatkin D.N. Neuropathology of ablation of rat gliosarcoma and contiguous brain tissue using a microplanar beam of synchrotron- wiggler generated x-rays. Int. J. Cancer 78:654-660, 1998.

Dilmanian F.A., Wu X.-Y., Parsons E.C., Ren B., Kress J., Button T.M., Chapman L.D., Coderre J.A, Giron F., Greenber D., Krus D.J., Liang Z., Marcovici S., Petersen M.J., Roque C.T., Shleifer M., Slatkin D.N., Thomlinson W.C., Yamamoto K, Zhong Z. Single- and dual-energy CT with monochromatic synchrotron x rays. Phys. Med. Biol. 42:371-387, 1997.

Slatkin D.N., Spanne P., Dilmanian F.A., Gebbers J.-O., Laissue J.A. Subacute neuropathological effects on rats of microplanar beams of x rays from a synchrotron wiggler. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 19:8783-8787, 1995.

Dilmanian F.A. Computed Tomography with Monochromatic X Rays. Am. J. Physiol. Imaging 3/4:175-193, 1992.