TWO NEW SINGLE-EXPOSURE, MULTI-DETECTOR NEUTRON SPECTROMETERS FOR RADIATION PROTECTION APPLICATIONS IN WORKPLACE MONITORING.

This communication describes two new instruments, based on multiple active thermal neutron detectors arranged within a single moderator, that permit to unfold the neutron spectrum (from thermal to hundreds of MeV) and to determine the corresponding integral quantities with only one exposure. This makes them especially advantageous for neutron field characterisation and workplace monitoring in neutron-producing facilities. One of the devices has spherical geometry and nearly isotropic response, the other one has cylindrical symmetry and it is only sensitive to neutrons incident along the cylinder axis. In both cases, active detectors have been specifically developed looking for the criteria of miniaturisation, high sensitivity, linear response and good photon rejection. The calculated response matrix has been validated by experimental irradiations in neutron reference fields with a global uncertainty of 3%. The measurements performed in realistic neutron fields permitted to determine the neutron spectra and the integral quantities, in particular H*(10).

Neutron measurements in radiotherapy: A method to correct neutron sensitive devices for parasitic photon response.

One of the major causes of secondary malignancies after radiotherapy treatments are peripheral doses, known to increase for some newer techniques (such as IMRT or VMAT). For accelerators operating above 10MV, neutrons can represent important contribution to peripheral doses. This neutron contamination can be measured using different passive or active techniques, available in the literature. As far as active (or direct-reading) procedures are concerned, a major issue is represented by their parasitic photon sensitivity, which can significantly affect the measurement when the point of test is located near to the field-edge. This work proposes a simple method to estimate the unwanted photon contribution to these neutrons. As a relevant case study, the use of a recently neutron sensor for "in-phantom" measurements in high-energy machines was considered. The method, called "Dual Energy Photon Subtraction" (DEPS), requires pairs of measurements performed for the same treatment, in low-energy (6MV) and high energy (e.g. 15MV) fields. It assumes that the peripheral photon dose (PPD) at a fixed point in a phantom, normalized to the unit photon dose at the isocenter, does not depend on the treatment energy. Measurements with ionization chamber and Monte Carlo simulations were used to evaluate the validity of this hypothesis. DEPS method was compared to already published correction methods, such as the use of neutron absorber materials. In addition to its simplicity, an advantage of DEPs procedure is that it can be applied to any radiotherapy machine.

ETHERNES: A new design of radionuclide source-based thermal neutron facility with large homogeneity area.

A new thermal neutron irradiation facility based on an (241)Am-Be source embedded in a polyethylene moderator has been designed, and is called ETHERNES (Extended THERmal NEutron Source). The facility shows a large irradiation cavity (45 cm × 45 cm square section, 63 cm in height), which is separated from the source by means of a polyethylene sphere acting as shadowing object. Taking advantage of multiple scattering of neutrons with the walls of this cavity, the moderation process is especially effective and allows obtaining useful thermal fluence rates from 550 to 800 cm(-2) s(-1) with a source having nominal emission rate 5.7×10(6) s(-1). Irradiation planes parallel to the cavity bottom have been identified. The fluence rate across a given plane is as uniform as 3% (or better) in a disk with 30 cm (or higher) diameter. In practice, the value of thermal fluence rate simply depends on the height from the cavity bottom. The thermal neutron spectral fraction ranges from 77% up to 89%, depending on the irradiation plane. The angular distribution of thermal neutrons is roughly isotropic, with a slight prevalence of directions from bottom to top of the cavity. The mentioned characteristics are expected to be attractive for the scientific community involved in neutron metrology, neutron dosimetry and neutron detector testing.

Improving the neutron-to-photon discrimination capability of detectors used for neutron dosimetry in high energy photon beam radiotherapy.

The increasing interest of the medical community to radioinduced second malignancies due to photoneutrons in patients undergoing high-energy radiotherapy, has stimulated in recent years the study of peripheral doses, including the development of some dedicated active detectors. Although these devices are designed to respond to neutrons only, their parasitic photon response is usually not identically zero and anisotropic. The impact of these facts on measurement accuracy can be important, especially in points close to the photon field-edge. A simple method to estimate the photon contribution to detector readings is to cover it with a thermal neutron absorber with reduced secondary photon emission, such as a borated rubber. This technique was applied to the TNRD (Thermal Neutron Rate Detector), recently validated for thermal neutron measurements in high-energy photon radiotherapy. The positive results, together with the accessibility of the method, encourage its application to other detectors and different clinical scenarios.

Experimental investigation of silicon photomultipliers as compact light readout systems for gamma-ray spectroscopy applications in fusion plasmas.

A matrix of Silicon Photo Multipliers has been developed for light readout from a large area 1 in. × 1 in. LaBr3 crystal. The system has been characterized in the laboratory and its performance compared to that of a conventional photo multiplier tube. A pulse duration of 100 ns was achieved, which opens up to spectroscopy applications at high counting rates. The energy resolution measured using radioactive sources extrapolates to 3%-4% in the energy range Eγ = 3-5 MeV, enabling gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements at good energy resolution. The results reported here are of relevance in view of the development of compact gamma-ray detectors with spectroscopy capabilities, such as an enhanced gamma-ray camera for high power fusion plasmas, where the use of photomultiplier is impeded by space limitation and sensitivity to magnetic fields.

A new online detector for estimation of peripheral neutron equivalent dose in organ.

PURPOSE: Peripheral dose in radiotherapy treatments represents a potential source of secondary neoplasic processes. As in the last few years, there has been a fast-growing concern on neutron collateral effects, this work focuses on this component. A previous established methodology to estimate peripheral neutron equivalent doses relied on passive (TLD, CR39) neutron detectors exposed in-phantom, in parallel to an active [static random access memory (SRAMnd)] thermal neutron detector exposed ex-phantom. A newly miniaturized, quick, and reliable active thermal neutron detector (TNRD, Thermal Neutron Rate Detector) was validated for both procedures. This first miniaturized active system eliminates the long postprocessing, required for passive detectors, giving thermal neutron fluences in real time. METHODS: To validate TNRD for the established methodology, intrinsic characteristics, characterization of 4 facilities [to correlate monitor value (MU) with risk], and a cohort of 200 real patients (for second cancer risk estimates) were evaluated and compared with the well-established SRAMnd device. Finally, TNRD was compared to TLD pairs for 3 generic radiotherapy treatments through 16 strategic points inside an anthropomorphic phantom. RESULTS: The performed tests indicate similar linear dependence with dose for both detectors, TNRD and SRAMnd, while a slightly better reproducibility has been obtained for TNRD (1.7% vs 2.2%). Risk estimates when delivering 1000 MU are in good agreement between both detectors (mean deviation of TNRD measurements with respect to the ones of SRAMnd is 0.07 cases per 1000, with differences always smaller than 0.08 cases per 1000). As far as the in-phantom measurements are concerned, a mean deviation smaller than 1.7% was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained indicate that direct evaluation of equivalent dose estimation in organs, both in phantom and patients, is perfectly feasible with this new detector. This will open the door to an easy implementation of specific peripheral neutron dose models for any type of treatment and facility.