Selective radiography of 10B distribution in organs using cold and thermal neutron beams

The investigation of boron biodistribution by neutron induced autoradiography was performed using a CR-39 etched track detector. Calibration samples, made of boronated chicken liver, and freeze-dried mouse tissue samples were irradiated both with thermal and cold neutrons. Digital images were made on the basis of track densities, with the selection of tracks due to 10B(n, alpha)7Li reaction. A comparison of results obtained both with thermal and cold neutrons demonstrated that it is possible to obtain equivalent results with both neutron sources, although the background noise due to recoil protons from the fast neutrons of the thermal neutron source is 15 % higher than that of the cold neutron source. 10B concentrations in the range of 0.5 ppm to 150 ppm were determined, with a standard deviation of 13 % and 8 % for the mouse tissue samples and calibration samples, respectively.