Fluorescent Neutron Track Detectors for Boron-10 Microdistribution Measurement in BNCT: A Feasibility Study

Boron Neutron-Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a form of radiation therapy that relies on the highly localized and enhanced biological effects of the ¹⁰B neutron capture (BNC) reaction products to selectively kill cancer cells. The efficacy of BNCT is, therefore, strongly dependent on the ¹⁰B spatial microdistribution at a subcellular level. Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors (FNTDs) could be a promising technology for measuring ¹⁰B microdistribution. They allow the measurement of the tracks of charged particles, and their biocompatibility allows cell samples to be deposited and grown on their surfaces. If a layer of borated cells is deposited and irradiated by a neutron field, the energy deposited by the BNC products and their trajectories can be measured by analyzing the corresponding tracks. This allows the reconstruction of the position where the measured particles were generated, hence the microdistribution of ¹⁰B. With respect to other techniques developed to measure ¹⁰B microdistribution, FNTDs would be a non-destructive, biocompatible, relatively easy-to-use, and accessible method, allowing the simultaneous measurement of the ¹⁰B microdistribution, the LET of particles, and the evolution of the related biological response on the very same cell sample. An FNTD was tested in three irradiation conditions to study the feasibility of FNTDs for BNCT applications. The FNTD allowed the successful measurement of the correct alpha particle range and mean penetration depth expected for all the radiation fields employed. This work proved the feasibility of FNTD in reconstructing the tracks of the alpha particles produced in typical BNCT conditions, thus the ¹⁰B microdistribution. Further experiments are planned at the University of Pavia's LENA (Applied Nuclear Energy Laboratory) to test the final set-up coupling the FNTD with borated cell samples.