The team of the BeNEdiCTE (Boron NEutron CapTurE) project, from the Politecnico di Milano, won the international Innovation4Nuclear 2026 competition, held on October 7 in Avignon, France, as part of the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC 2026).
The group — comprising postdoctoral researcher Tommaso Ferri and PhD candidates Filippo Ghisio and Maurizio Pandocchi — presented an innovative SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging system. The system was developed at the Radiation Laboratory (RadLab) of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB), under the coordination of Professors Carlo Fiorini, Marco Carminati, and Giacomo Borghi. The ultimate goal of the system is to enable real-time monitoring of the radiation dose delivered to patients undergoing BNCT (Boron Neutron Capture Therapy), an experimental form of targeted radiotherapy used to treat invasive, complex, or radioresistant tumors. The project was supported by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN, through the SPOC project) and the Ministry of University and Research (MUR, through the PRIN 2022 project, BNCT-SPECT).
Organized by the International Youth Nuclear Congress, Innovation4Nuclear brings together young innovators from around the world to showcase cutting-edge applications of nuclear science and technology, with a strong emphasis on innovation, feasibility, and sustainability.
This international victory marks a significant milestone for BeNEdiCTE, following the team’s previous successes in the Italian Innovation4Nuclear 2025 competition in Brasimone and the European final of Innovation4Nuclear 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia. Throughout these competitions, the BeNEdiCTE team has demonstrated how nuclear innovation can extend beyond energy production, offering solutions to critical challenges in the fields of healthcare and cancer treatment.
This achievement highlights the international impact of the research conducted at the Politecnico di Milano and its contribution to the development of innovative technologies for the future of nuclear medicine.