NEUTRON-CAPTURE RADIOGRAPHY APPLIED TO THE INVESTIGATION OF B-10 BIODISTRIBUTION IN ANIMALS - IMPROVEMENTS IN TECHNIQUES OF IMAGING AND QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS

Neutron capture radiographies (NCR) allow to get both quantitative and qualitative information on the distribution of B-10 in biological samples. Based on the results of the B-10-boronophenylalanine biodistribution in a human ocular melanoma engrafted in the anterior chamber and in various organ of a rabbit immunosuppressed with cyclosporine, an original method of NCR macroscopic imaging with an optical bench which uses the CR 39 nuclear track detector as a light guide is proposed. With this device, the quantitative analysis of the B-10 concentration in the sample is simplified, because the track density is easily obtained through photometry. Moreover, the relation between the track density and the local B-10 concentration in the sample is reviewed, and a nonlinear regression is proposed which allows to take the track overlapping into account.