DEVELOPMENT OF A T AN DEM-ELECTROSTATIC- QUADRUPO LE FOR ACCELER ATOR-B ASED BORONNEUTRON C APTURE TH ER APY

摘要

There is a generalized perception that thernavailability of suitable particle accelerators installed inrnhospitals, as neutron sources, may be crucial for thernadvancement of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT).rnAn ongoing project to develop a Tandem-ElectroStatic-Quadrupolern(TESQ) accelerator for Accelerator-Basedrn(AB)-BNCT is described here. The project goal is arnmachine capable of delivering 30 mA of 2.5 MeV protonsrnto be used in conjunction with a neutron productionrntarget based on the 7 Li(p,n)7 Be reaction slightly beyondrnits resonance at 2.25 MeV. A folded tandem, with 1.25rnMV terminal voltage, combined with an ESQ chain isrnbeing designed and constructed. This machine isrnconceptually shown to be capable of accelerating a 30rnmA proton beam to 2.5 MeV. These are the specificationsrnneeded to produce sufficiently intense and cleanrnepithermal neutron beams, based on the 7 Li(p,n)7 Bernreaction, to perform BNCT treatment for deep-seatedrntumors in less than an hour. This electrostatic machine isrnthe technologically simplest and cheapest solution forrnoptimized AB-BNCT. The first design and construction ofrnan ESQ module is discussed and its electrostatic fieldsrnare investigated theoretically and experimentally. Alsornnew beam transport calculations through the acceleratorrnare presented.