β+ Radioactive Nuclei Created During Proton Therapy
Abstract
During proton therapy, the beam flux decreases due to inelastic interactions with nuclei. At the highest energies used in proton therapy, around 20% protons initiate nuclear reactions. This report presents the cross-section measurements of proton-induced production of three β+ emitters — 11C, 13N, 15O — with half-lives between 2 and 20 min, using solid C, BN, and SiO2 targets. Stacks of up to 15 targets were irradiated simultaneously with proton beams of kinetic energy below 58 MeV at the AIC-144 cyclotron of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences. The measured cross sections follow the excitation function obtained in the previous experiments, with uncertainty of a few percent.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry
Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry and Applications
Boron Compounds in Chemistry
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Acta Physica Polonica A
- Publisher
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Volume
- 148
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- S128–S128
- Publication date
- 15 January 2026