An improved neutron autoradiography set-up for ¹⁰B concentration measurements in biological samples

Aim: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a binary hadrontherapy which exploits the neutron capture reaction in boron, together with a selective uptake of boronated substances by the neoplastic tissue. There is increasing evidence that future improvements in clinical BNCT will be triggered by the discovery of new boronated compounds, with higher selectivity for the tumor with respect to clinically used sodium borocaptate (BSH) and boronophenylalanine (BPA). Background: Therefore, a ¹⁰B quantification technique for biological samples is needed in order to evaluate the performance of new boronated formulations. Materials and methods: This article describes an improved neutron autoradiography set-up employing radiation sensitive films where the latent tracks are made visible by proper etching conditions. Results: Calibration curves for both liquid and tissue samples were obtained. Conclusions: The obtained calibration curves were adopted to set-up a mechanism to point out boron concentration in the whole sample.