Speaker
Description
The high sensitivity of proton therapy to anatomical deviations implies improved treatment outcomes are achievable with real-time range monitoring. To this end, the NOVO project was initiated with the goal of developing a multi-particle imaging system for proton therapy. In this work, we characterize a novel organic glass scintillator (OGS) and investigate its potential for such a system, where range monitoring will be based on the simultaneous imaging of both secondary prompt gamma-rays and fast neutrons produced in patient tissues during treatment. The neutron vs. gamma-ray pulse-shape discrimination (PSD), light output, and energy resolution of a 10 × 10 × 200 mm3 bar of OGS were evaluated using time-of-flight methods. Additional measurements with a 10×10×100 mm3
OGS bar and radioactive emitters were made to investigate the coincident time, depth-of-interaction reconstruction, and energy resolution of the detector. The tested samples exhibited PSD figure-of-merits > 1 above 250 keVee (corresponding to recoil protons > 550 keV). Additionally, above 400 keVee an energy resolution < 10 %, coincident time resolution < 500 ps, and a position resolution < 10 mm was achieved. This work demonstrates that OGS is a promising candidate for particle therapy range verification using both neutrons and gamma-rays.
