FPGA-based position reconstruction method for neutron beam flux spatial distribution measurement in BNCT

new measurement method for the spatial distribution of neutron beam flux in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is being developed based on the two-dimensional Micromegas detector. To address the issue of long processing time in traditional offline position reconstruction methods, this paper proposes an FPGA-based online position reconstruction method, grounded in the micro time projection chamber principle. This method encapsulates key technical aspects: self-adaptive serial link technique built upon the dynamical adjustment of delay chain length, fast sorting and coordinate matching technique based on the mapping between signal timestamps and random access memory (RAM) addresses, and precise start point merging technique utilizing a circular combined RAM. The performance test of the self-adaptive serial link shows the bit error rate of the link is better than 10^-12 at a confidence level of 99%, ensuring reliable data transmission. The combined experiment of the readout electronics and the Micromegas detector shows a spatial resolution of approximately 1.4 mm, surpassing the current method's resolution level of 5 mm. The beam experiment confirms that the readout electronics system can obtain the flux spatial distribution of neutron beam online, thus validating the feasibility of the position reconstruction method. The online position reconstruction method avoids traditional methods such as bubble sorting and traversal searching, simplifying the design of logic firmware and reducing the time complexity from O(n^2) to O(n). This study contributes to the advancement in measuring neutron beam flux for BNCT.