Boron imaging with a microstrip silicon detector for applications in BNCT

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a radiotherapic technique exploiting the αα particles produced after the irradiation of the isotope 10 of boron with thermal neutrons in the capture reaction B(n,α)710Li. It is used to treat tumours that for their features (radioresistance, extension, localization near vital organs) cannot be treated through conventional photon-beams radiotherapy. One of the main limitations of this technique is the lack of specificity (i.e. the ability of localizing in tumour cells, saving the healthy tissues) of the compounds used to carry the 10B isotope in the organs to be treated. This work, developed in the framework of the INFN PhoNeS project, describes the possibility of boron imaging performed exploiting the neutrons photoproduced by a linac (the Clinac 2100C/D of the S. Anna Hospital Radiotherapy Unit in Como, Italy) and detecting the αα s with a non-depleted microstrip silicon detector: the result is a 1D scan of the boron concentration. Several boron doped samples have been analysed, from solutions of H3BO3H3BO3 (reaching a minimum detectable amount of 25 ng of 10B) to biological samples of urine containing BPA and BSH (the two molecules currently used for the clinical trials in BNCT) in order to build kinetic curves (showing the absolute 10B concentration as a function of time). Further measurements are under way to test the imaging system with 10BPA–Fructose complex perfused human lung samples.