Feasibility study of the proton yield from the reaction D(3He,p)4 He as a possible tool for radiotherapy treatment

Recent achievements in proton and carbon ions therapy have shown the importance of the hadron therapy methods. Aiming at radiotherapy applications such as dermatological and intra-operative procedures, where a short range treatment is needed, we have studied the use of nuclear reactions induced by low energy ions from small accelerators. A very suitable reaction is D(3He,p)4He, using 3He+ ions with energies of about 800 keV. The resulting protons have energies above 17 MeV and could deliver significant radiation dose depending on the accelerator 3He+ beam current and the irradiation time. The deuterium containing target was prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering of titanium in Ar and Ar+D2 radiofrequency plasma on a substrate of Silicon. The Ti-Dx stoichiometry and deuterium content was determined by Ion Beam Analysis. The accelerated 3He+ beam was provided by the 2.5MV Van de Graaff accelerator at the National Laboratories of Legnaro, INFN, Italy. Proton yield as a function of the beam current at different forward scattering angles has been studied for the energies of the incoming 3He+ in the 700keV – 800keV energy interval. The irradiated volume and the radiation dose in biological tissues as a function of the proton energy and proton yield has been estimated. Possible applications in small animal treatment studies as well as potential clinical radiotherapy applications are discussed.