Calculation of microdosimetric quantities of low energy electrons in subcellular structures using the Geant4-DNA code

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Behbahan Khatam Alanbia University of Technology, Behbahan, Iran

Abstract

By defining random quantities related to microscopic structures, microdosimetry can provide accurate information about the effects of radiation. Using the µ-randomness method and the Geant4-DNA code, in a sphere of water for low energy electrons in the energy range of 0.1 to 4.5 keV, the microdosimetric values of the frequency-mean lineal energy, dose-mean lineal energy, frequency-mean specific energy, and dose-mean specific energy were calculated. In this study, target volumes including cylinders with dimensions (height × diameter) of 23 × 23 equivalent to DNA volume, 50 × 100 equivalent to nucleosome volume, and 300 × 300 angstroms equivalent to the volume of chromatin fiber were selected. Examining the frequency-mean lineal energy and dose-mean lineal energy, it was observed that the trend of changes in the energy of the primary electrons is similar to the trend of changes in the damage of the same electrons in the DNA. The research results are also compared with the existing results of the simulation with the PITS and KURBUC codes. Differences in the results of this study were observed with the results of PITS and KURBUC codes, which is due to differences in the cross-sections of the electron used in the codes under study. In the Geant4-DNA code, for example, for low-energy electrons, the ionization and excitation cross-sections are smaller than those obtained by other codes. 

Keywords

References

1. H. Nikjoo, D. Emfietzoglou, R. Watanabe, S. Uehara. Can Monte Carlo track structure codes reveal reaction mechanism in DNA damage and improve radiation therapy?, Rad. Phys. Chem. 77 (2008) 1270-1279.
2. H. H. Rossi, W. A. Rozenzweig. A device for the measurement of dose as a function of specific ionization, Radiology 64 (1955) 404.
3. T. Liamsuwan, M. Hultqvist, L. Lindborg, S. Uehara, H. Nikjoo. Microdosimetry of proton and carbon ions, Med. Phys. 41 (2014) 8.
4. T. Liamsuwan, D. Emfietzoglou, S. Uehara, H. Nikjoo. Microdosimetry of low-energy electrons, Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 12 (2012) 899-907.
5. H. Nikjoo, D. Emfietzoglou, T. Liamsuwan, R. Taleei, D. Liljequist, S. Uehara. Radiation track, DNA damage and response - a review. Rep. Prog. Phys. 79 (2016) 116601.
6. S. Rollet, P. Colautti, B. Grosswendt, D. Moro, E. Gargioni, V. Conte, L. DeNardo. Monte Carlo simulation of mini TEPC microdosimetric spectra: Influence of low energy electrons. Radiat. Meas. 45 (2010) 1330-1333.
7. M. Mokari, H. Moeini, M. Soleimani, Calculation of microdosimetric spectra for protons using Geant4-DNA and a μ-randomness sampling algorithm for the nanometric structures, Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 97 (2021) 208-218.
8. M. Mokari, M. H. Alamatsaz, H. Moeini, R. Taleei. A Simulation Approach for Determining the Spectrum of DNA Damage Induced by Protons. Phys Med Biol. 63(2018) 175003.
9. E. Polig, D. B. Kimmel, W. S. S. Jee. Morphometry of bone cell nuclei and their location relative to bone surfaces. Phys. Med. Biol. 29 (1984) 939-952.
10. ICRU. Microdosimetry. Bethesda: International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements,1983.
11. M. Mokari, M. H. Alamatsaz, H. Moeini, A. A. Babaei Brojeny, R. Taleei. Track structure simulation of low energy electron damage to DNA using Geant4-DNA. Biomed. Phys. Eng. Express 4 (2018) 065009.
12. M. Mokari, H. Moeini, M. Soleimani, E. Fereidouni. Calculation and comparison of the direct and indirect DNA damage induced by low energy electrons using default and CPA100 cross section models within Geant4-DNA. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 480 (2020) 56–66.
13. G. Famulari, P. Pater, S. Enger. Microdosimetry calculations for monoenergetic electrons using Geant4-DNA combined with a weighted track sampling algorithm. Phys. Med. Biol. 62 (2017) 5495–5508. 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics