Project description
Advancing neutron dosimetry for safer FLASH therapy
Cancer is a leading cause of death globally. In terms of treatment, radiotherapy (RT) plays a crucial role. A promising innovation in RT is ultra high dose-rate radiotherapy (UHDR), which includes FLASH therapy, which delivers radiation at higher doses, sparing healthy tissues while effectively targeting tumours. However, challenges remain in ensuring accurate measurement of radiation doses, particularly the secondary neutrons that can affect healthy tissue. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SiCNeutronFlash project aims to develop groundbreaking neutron dosimeters using silicon carbide (SiC) diodes. These will enable precise measurement of neutron flux and spectrum in FLASH therapy, providing data to validate the safety of this treatment approach.
Objective
Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. According to the latest research, 20% of people will develop cancer at some point during their lifetime. Radiotherapy (RT) is the medical use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer. About 52% of cancer patients receive RT at least once during their treatment. During the last years, new RT treatment modalities are rapidly being researched, one of the most promising is the Ultra High Dose-Rate Radiotherapy (UHDR) or FLASH therapy, where the delivered dose rate is several orders of magnitude higher than the conventional one. This approach has been found to elicit significant sparing of healthy tissues with equal probability of tumor control. One of the challenges to validate and enable the clinical implementation of FLASH is the development of active dosimetry systems that allow accurate dose measurements and beam monitoring.
The experience gained in RT traditional treatments shows that secondary neutrons can produce a not insignificant undesirable parasitic dose to healthy tissue and critical organs that can induce late effects. Therefore, the measurement of neutron flux and its spectrum is key to determining potential risks in FLASH therapy. The goal of this project is the development of a novel matrix of active neutron dosimeters based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) diodes covered with different types of neutron conversion layers and moderators for characterizing the neutron contribution out-of-field in FLASH conditions. SiC has many advantages, e.g. low noise, insensitivity to visible light and temperature variations, higher radiation hardness than silicon. The host group has been the first worldwide in obtaining a SiC detector with a linear relationship between the charge collected and the dose up to 11 Gy/pulse (1.5 um pulse). To the best of our knowledge, there are no active neutron dosimeters to measure out-of-field neutron doses in FLASH conditions. We propose to create the first one in the field.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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28006 Madrid
Spain
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