Feasibility study of the proton yield from the reaction D( 3 He,p) 4 He as a possible tool for radiotherapy treatment

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series 2012-12, Vol.398 (1), p.12029
• Main Authors: Uzunov, N M, Liguori, N, Fontana, C L, Baneva, Y, Atroshchenko, K, Bello, M, Moschini, G, Rosato, A, Rigato, V, Doyle, B, Rossi, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerators; Analytical techniques; Deuterium; Feasibility studies; Forward scattering; Ion beams; Magnetron sputtering; Nuclear reactions; Physics; Proton energy; Radiation dosage; Radiation therapy; Radio frequency; Radio frequency plasma; Scattering angle; Silicon substrates; Stoichiometry; Tissues; Titanium
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/398/1/012029

Recent achievements in proton and carbon ions therapy have shown the importance of the hadron therapy methods. Aiming at radiotherapy applications such as dermatological and intra-operative procedures, where a short range treatment is needed, we have studied the use of nuclear reactions induced by low energy ions from small accelerators. A very suitable reaction is D(3He,p)4He, using 3He+ ions with energies of about 800 keV. The resulting protons have energies above 17 MeV and could deliver significant radiation dose depending on the accelerator 3He+ beam current and the irradiation time. The deuterium containing target was prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering of titanium in Ar and Ar + D2 radiofrequency plasma on a substrate of Silicon. The Ti-Dx stoichiometry and deuterium content was determined by Ion Beam Analysis. The accelerated 3He+ beam was provided by the 2.5MV Van de Graaff accelerator at the National Laboratories of Legnaro, INFN, Italy. Proton yield as a function of the beam current at different forward scattering angles has been studied for the energies of the incoming 3He+ in the 700keV – 800keV energy interval. The irradiated volume and the radiation dose in biological tissues as a function of the proton energy and proton yield has been estimated. Possible applications in small animal treatment studies as well as potential clinical radiotherapy applications are discussed.