A detailed Monte Carlo accounting of radiation transport in the brain during BNCT

The collision type central to BNCT is 10B(n, α)7Li, however, other types of nuclear reactions also take place in the patient. In addition to the major elements (H, C, N, O), minor elements such as Na, Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca and Fe present in body tissues also interact in neutron collisions. Detailed accounting of the above not only provides a better understanding of radiation transport in the human body during BNCT, but such knowledge affects the design of the facility, as well as treatment planning, imaging and verification for a given BNCT agent. Of the methods of investigation currently available, only Monte Carlo simulation could provide the detailed accounting and breakdown of the quantities required. We report Monte Carlo simulation of an anthropomorphic voxel phantom, the VIP-Man and show how these quantities change with different 10B concentrations in the tumour, the blood and the remaining tissues. The 10B biodistribution has been chosen to be the variable of interest, since it is not accurately known, is frequently approximated and is a crucial quantity upon which dose calculations are based.