A wearable tool for real-time dose monitoring during cancer radiation therapies
We report on a wearable, human tissue-equivalent, real-time dosimeter designed to quantitatively monitor radiation absorbed by patients during cancer treatments. The fully organic device has been characterized under actual clinical conditions using a high-energy proton beam and an anthropomorphic phantom, with the aim to simulate a prostate cancer proton therapy treatment. We achieved a full control over the dosimeter operation, and we verified its linear response with the received dose. We demonstrate that, by a proper functionalization of the polysiloxane-based scintillator, it is possible to target the effective detection of different kinds of ionizing radiation. Specifically, besides protons, we develop a device able to detect thermal neutrons, targeting its use during Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. This work demonstrates how organic indirect detectors can be considered a universal radiation detecting platform able to monitor in real time and in situ the dose absorbed by patients during cancer treatments under different kinds of radiation.
Authors
- Enrico Verroi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0957-4505)
- Jessica Delgado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1017-1554)
- Beatrice Fraboni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4875-3816)
- Francesco Tommasino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8684-9261)
- Laura Basiricò (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0852-1770)
- Mattia Scagliotti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8505-6377)
- Camilla Bordoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6564-4747)
- P. Branchini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2270-9673)
- A. Aloisio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3883-6693)
- Andrea Ciavatti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7877-7739)
- L. Mariucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1872-0009)
- S. Moretto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0052-3480)
- M. Campajola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2518-7134)
- F. Pino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3224-0493)
- Sabrina Calvi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5099-9241)
- Ilaria Fratelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6292-0118)
- A. Quaranta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1320-091X)
- A. Valletta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3901-9230)
- Matteo Rapisarda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2629-3855)
- S. Carturan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6702-2867)
- Luca Tortora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3053-2406)
- E. Sarnelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2739-0013)
- Lorenzo Margotti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1544-416X)
- Giulia Napolitano
Institutions
- University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Institute of Applied Science and Intelligent Systems (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics And Applications (IT)
- Superconducting and other Innovative Materials and Devices Institute (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli (IT)
- Federico II University Hospital (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I (IT)
- Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IT)
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-04-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt7633
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Radiation Effects in Electronics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.65