Microdosimetry of proton and carbon ions
- Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology, Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok 26120 (Thailand)
- Medical Radiation Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 (Sweden)
- Radiation Biophysics Group, Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Box 260 SE-17176, Stockholm (Sweden)
- School of Health Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581 (Japan)
Purpose: To investigate microdosimetry properties of 160 MeV/u protons and 290 MeV/u{sup 12}C ion beams in small volumes of diameters 10–100 nm. Methods: Energy distributions of primary particles and nuclear fragments in the beams were calculated from simulations with the general purpose code SHIELD-HIT, while energy depositions by monoenergetic ions in nanometer volumes were obtained from the event-by-event Monte Carlo track structure ion code PITS99 coupled with the electron track structure code KURBUC. Results: The results are presented for frequencies of energy depositions in cylindrical targets of diameters 10–100 nm, dose distributionsyd(y) in lineal energy y, and dose-mean lineal energies y{sup ¯}{sub D}. For monoenergetic ions, the y{sup ¯}{sub D} was found to increase with an increasing target size for high-linear energy transfer (LET) ions, but decrease with an increasing target size for low-LET ions. Compared to the depth dose profile of the ion beams, the maximum of the y{sup ¯}{sub D} depth profile for the 160 MeV proton beam was located at ∼0.5 cm behind the Bragg peak maximum, while the y{sup ¯}{sub D} peak of the 290 MeV/u {sup 12}C beam coincided well with the peak of the absorbed dose profile. Differences between the y{sup ¯}{sub D} and dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LET{sub D}) were large in the proton beam for both target volumes studied, and in the {sup 12}C beam for the 10 nm diameter cylindrical volumes. The y{sup ¯}{sub D} determined for 100 nm diameter cylindrical volumes in the {sup 12}C beam was approximately equal to the LET{sub D}. The contributions from secondary particles to the y{sup ¯}{sub D} of the beams are presented, including the contributions from secondary protons in the proton beam and from fragments with atomic number Z = 1–6 in the {sup 12}C beam. Conclusions: The present investigation provides an insight into differences in energy depositions in subcellular-size volumes when irradiated by proton and carbon ion beams. The results are useful for characterizing ion beams of practical importance for biophysical modeling of radiation-induced DNA damage response and repair in the depth profiles of protons and carbon ions used in radiotherapy.
- OSTI ID:
- 22409576
- Journal Information:
- Medical Physics, Vol. 41, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2014 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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