Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Optimization of target, moderator, and collimator in the accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy system: A Monte Carlo study

  • Cheon, Bo-Wi (Department of Radiation Convergence Engineering, Yonsei University) ;
  • Yoo, Dohyeon (Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School) ;
  • Park, Hyojun (Department of Radiation Convergence Engineering, Yonsei University) ;
  • Lee, Hyun Cheol (Department of Radiation Convergence Engineering, Yonsei University) ;
  • Shin, Wook-Geun (Department of Radiation Convergence Engineering, Yonsei University) ;
  • Choi, Hyun Joon (Department of Radiation Oncology, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital) ;
  • Hong, Bong Hwan (Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Science) ;
  • Chung, Heejun (The Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control) ;
  • Min, Chul Hee (Department of Radiation Convergence Engineering, Yonsei University)
  • Received : 2020.08.11
  • Accepted : 2020.12.05
  • Published : 2021.06.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The aim of this study was to optimize the target, moderator, and collimator (TMC) in a neutron beam generator for the accelerator-based BNCT (A-BNCT) system. The optimization employed the Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon (MCNP) simulation. The optimal geometry for the target was decided as the one with the highest neutron flux among nominates, which were called as angled, rib, and tube in this study. The moderator was optimized in terms of consisting material to produce appropriate neutron energy distribution for the treatment. The optimization of the collimator, which wrapped around the target, was carried out by deciding the material to effectively prevent the leakage radiations. As results, characteristic of the neutron beam from the optimized TMC was compared to the recommendation by the International Atomic Energy Agent (IAEA). The tube type target showed the highest neutron flux among nominates. The optimal material for the moderator and collimator were combination of Fluental (Al203+AlF3) with 60Ni filter and lead, respectively. The optimized TMC satisfied the IAEA recommendations such as the minimum production rate of epithermal neutrons from thermal neutrons: that was 2.5 times higher. The results can be used as source terms for shielding designs of treatment rooms.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (No.50532-2018), and by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2020R1A2C2011576) and by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foundation Of Nuclear Safety (KoFONS) using the financial resource granted by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of the Republic of Korea (1803027-0320-SB110).

References

  1. E. Bavarnegin, Y. Kasesaz, F.M. Wagner, Neutron beams implemented at nuclear research reactors for BNCT, J. Instrum. 12 (5) (2017), P05005, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2007.02.002. URL.
  2. J.A. Coderre, G.M. Morris, The Radiation Biology of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, 1999, https://doi.org/10.2307/3579742. URL.
  3. H. Koivunoro, E. Hippelainen, I. Auterinen, L. Kankaanranta, M. Kulvik, J. Laakso, T. Seppala, S. Savolainen, H. Joensuu, Biokinetic analysis of tis- sue boron (10B) concentrations of glioma patients treated with BNCT in Finland, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 106 (2015) 189-194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.08.014.
  4. T. Watanabe, Comparison of the pharmacokinetics between l-BPA and l-FBPA using the same adminis- tration dose and protocol: a validation study for the theranostic approach using [18 F]-l-FBPA positron emission tomography in boron neutron capture ther- apy, BMC Canc. 16 (2016), 859. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-016-2913-x
  5. M. Monshizadeh, MCNP design of thermal and ep- ithermal neutron beam for BNCT at the Isfahan MNSR, Prog. Nucl. Energy 83 (2015) 427-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.05.004
  6. J. Esposito, et al., Be target development for the accelerator-based SPES-BNCT facility at INFN Legnaro, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 67 (2009) 7-8. S270-S273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2008.08.017
  7. J. Mokhtari, Conceptual design study of the low power and LEU medical reactor for BNCT using in-tank fission converter to increase epithermal flux, Prog. Nucl. Energy 95 (2017) 70-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2016.11.014
  8. J.-K. Kim, K.-O. Kim, Current research on accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy in Korea, Nuclear Engi- neering and Technology 41 (4) (2009) 531-544, https://doi.org/10.5516/net.2009.41.4.531. URL.
  9. A. Kreiner, Juan, Present status of accelerator-based BNCT, Rep. Practical Oncol. Radiother. 21 (2016) 95-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpor.2014.11.004
  10. H. Kumada, Project for the development of the linac based NCT facility in University of Tsukuba, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 88 (2014) 211-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.02.018
  11. H. Tanaka, Experimental verification of beam char- acteristics for cyclotronbased epithermal neutron source (C-BENS), Appl. Radiat. Isot. 69 (2011) 1642-1645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.03.020
  12. A. Miller, Californium-252 as a Neutron Source for BNCT, 2012, pp. 69-74. Neutron Capture Therapy, Springer.
  13. H, et al., Characteristics comparison between a cyclotron-based neutron source and KUR-HWNIF for boron neutron capture therapy, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms 267 (11) (2009), 1970-1977, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2004.05.084. URL.
  14. M. Han, Cheol, TET2MCNP: A conversion program to implement tetrahedralmesh models in MCNP, Journal of Radiation Protection and Research 41 (2016) 389-394. https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2016.41.4.389
  15. H. Kumada, Development of beryllium-based neu- tron target system with three-layer structure for accelerator-based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 106 (2015) 78-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.07.033
  16. Martz, Roger Lee, The MCNP6 Book on Unstructured Mesh Geometry: User's Guide for MCNP 6.2. 1. No. LA-UR-18-27630, Los Alamos National Lab.(LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States), 2018.
  17. E. Bavarnegin, Y. Kasesaz, F.M. Wagner, Neutron beams implemented at nuclear research reactors for BNCT, J. Instrum. 12 (5) (2017), P05005, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/12/05/p05005. URL.
  18. Coderre, J. "IAEA-TECDOC-1223." (2001)..
  19. J.C. Yanch, X.L. Zhou, G.L. Brownell, A Monte Carlo investigation of the dosimetric properties of monoenergetic neutron beams for neutron capture therapy, Radiat. Res. 126 (1) (1991) 1-20. https://doi.org/10.2307/3578165