SBIR Innovative Concept Award - Detection, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Research of Pediatric Cancers and/or Rare Cancers.

将开发一种紧凑的中子源，具有准直器和药物输送方法，允许辐射直接进入脑桥癌细胞，同时最大限度地减少对健康组织和器官的剂量。在传统的放射治疗中，弥漫性内生性脑桥胶质瘤的主要姑息性治疗，健康细胞和癌细胞接受的剂量大致相同。这暂时减缓了肿瘤的生长，但必须停止放射治疗，以限制健康组织的损伤。硼中子捕获疗法（BNCT）是一种放射治疗，可以提供更有针对性的癌细胞破坏，同时最大限度地减少健康组织损伤。一种新型的紧凑型中子发生器与中子光学器件结合在一起，可以将中子直接输送到脑桥上，并通过精确的硼输送，导致特定的癌细胞破坏。为了提供更定向的肿瘤体积和细胞特异性靶向，我们提出了一种紧凑的中子发生器，集成了光谱和体积整形传递光学器件，以最小的侵入性将热中子引导到体内的脑桥。输送给癌细胞的硼与健康细胞吸收的硼的比例大致相同，增加了癌细胞的死亡率，从而增加了对癌症的剂量。

A compact neutron source with collimator and drug delivery method will be developed that permits radiation to go directly to the cancerous cells of the pons, while minimizing the dose to healthy tissue and organs. In conventional radiation therapy, the main palliative treatment for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, both healthy and cancerous cells receive roughly the same dose. This temporarily slows the tumor growth, but radiation treatments must be discontinued to limit healthy tissue damage. Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a radiation treatment that can provide a more targeted destruction of the cancer cells while minimizing healthy tissue damage. A new compact neutron generator married to a neutron optic can deliver the neutrons directly to the pons and, with a precise boron delivery, result in specific cancer cell destruction. To provide a more directional tumor-volume and cell-specific targeting we propose a compact neutron generator integrated with a spectral- and volume-shaping delivery optic to direct thermal neutrons to the pons inside the body with minimal invasiveness. The ratio of the boron delivered to the cancer cells vs that taken up by healthy cells increases the cancer cell death by roughly the same ratio, permitting increased dose to the cancer.