BDTPS: The BNCT Treatment Planning System jointly developed at DIMNP and JRC/IE

The idea to couple the Treatment Planning System (TPS) to the information on the real boron distribution in the patient is the main added value of the new methodology set-up at DIMNP of University of Pisa, in collaboration with the JRC of Petten (NL). The methodology has been implemented in the new TPS, called BDTPS (Boron Distribution Treatment Planning System), which takes into account the actual boron distribution in the patient brain, while the standard TPS assumes a uniform boron distribution, absolutely far from the reality. Nowadays, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is able to provide this in vivo information. The new TPS, based on the Monte Carlo technique, has been validated comparing the main BNCT parameters (thermal flux, boron dose, etc.) as measured during the irradiation of a special heterogeneous boron phantom (HEBOM), ad hoc designed, as calculated by the BDTPS and by the standard TPS SERA. An evident SERA overestimation of the thermal neutron flux, as well as the boron dose, has been detected. On the other hand, BDTPS response is in good agreement with the calculation results obtained using a MCNP analytical model. Hopefully, this study is the starting point for future improvements in the TPS research and will be followed by similar works, with the aim to confirm that PET-based TPS methodology represents the next frontier in the BNCT applications.