TraX Engine: Advanced Processing of Radiation Data Acquired by Timepix Detectors in Space, Medical, Educational and Imaging Applications

Abstract

The TraX Engine is an advanced data processing tool developed by ADVACAM in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), specifically designed for analyzing data from Timepix detectors equipped with various sensor materials (Si, CdTe, GaAs, SiC). TraX Engine can process large datasets across various scientific and medical applications, including space radiation monitoring, particle therapy, and imaging. In space applications, the TraX Engine has been used to process data from satellites like OneWeb JoeySat deployed in LEO orbit, where it continuously monitors space radiation environments measuring flux, dose, and dose rate in real-time. In medical applications, particularly in particle therapy, the TraX Engine is used to process data to characterize radiation fields in terms of particle flux, Linear Energy Transfer, and spatial distribution of the radiation dose. The TraX Engine can identify and classify scattered particles, such as secondary protons and electrons, and estimate their contribution to out-of-field doses. In imaging applications, the TraX Engine is integrated into Compton cameras, where it supports photon source localization through directional reconstruction of photons. The system ability to identify gamma radiation source with high precision makes it suitable for medical imaging tasks, such as tracking I-131 used in thyroid cancer treatment or localizing radiation sources. This paper presents the architecture and capabilities of the newly developed software TraX Engine, alongside results from various applications, demonstrating its role in particle tracking, radiation monitoring, imaging, and others. With its modular architecture, the TraX Engine offers multiple interfaces, including a command-line tool, an API, a web portal, and a graphical user interface, ensuring usability across different fields and user expertise levels.