Evaluation of Dose Components for Healthy Tissue Tolerance Studies on Dogs at the HFR Petten

Abstract

Before the start of clinical trials of BNCT on glioma patients at the Petten reactor, certain preconditions must be determined. In particular the tolerance of healthy brain tissue exposed to the epithermal neutron beam requires investigation. In these studies, beagle dogs have been subjected to different levels of irradiation and 10B, the latter in the form of BSH. To support this work a treatment planning tool is being developed to predict the various dose components within the treatment volume. A Monte Carlo code, MCNP1, has been used to simulate the particle transport and to predict the different dose rate distributions. The dose rates generated by MCNP are manipulated with a processing code, TREAT, to give irradiation times, peak dose positions and to display the required data in a graphical format.