Neutron Capture Synovectomy for Rheumatoid Arthritis

The goal of this program is to determine the feasibility of synovectomy using the 10B(n,alpha)7 Liwith an external neutron beam for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This therapy has two pover surgical or radiation synovectomy with ¿-emitters for RA: it is non-invasive and it does not reof radioactive materials to the patient. Recent experiments have shown that very high boron concentrin active human synovium in vitro. However, the required neutron beam characteristics for therapy arIn Phase I, Monte Carlo simulation techniques will be used to determine the required boron distributparameters for successful therapy of the human synovial joints most commonly involved in RA. An optibased neutron beam design which minimizes radiation dose to non-target tissues in neutron capture sybe developed. This work will lead to the construction of a neutron therapy beamline in Phase II andquantitative basis for future in vivo studies of synovial tissue ablation using the 10B(n,alpha) rea