Microdosimetric calculations for radionuclides emitting beta and alpha particles and Auger electrons

Author(s)

Seniwal, Baljeet ^{[1, 2]} ; Bernal, Mario A. ^[3] ; Fonseca, Telma C. F. ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] UFMG BH MG, Dept Nucl Engn, Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[2] UFMG BH MG, Postgrad Program Nucl Sci & Tech, Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Fis Gleb Wataghin, Dept Fis Aplicada, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Applied Radiation and Isotopes; v. 166, DEC 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

This work focuses on the calculation of S-values and radial energy profiles for radionuclides emitting high (Y-90, Sr-89), medium (Re-186, Sm-153) and low-energy (Er-169, Lu-177) beta-particles, Auger electrons (In-111, Ga-67, I-123) and alpha-particles (At-211, Ac-225). Simulations were performed using the EGSnrc and GEANT4-DNA Monte Carlo (MC) codes for a spherical cell geometry. S-values were computed using decay spectra available in literature for Tc-99m and In-111. To investigate the effect on S-value when the same emission spectrum is used in two different MC codes. Internal modules of the MC codes were used to simulate the decay of other radionuclides mentioned above. Radial energy profiles for uniformly distributed radioactive sources in the cell nucleus and cytoplasm were calculated and results were compared with the literature. For S-values calculated using the same emission spectrum, the results showed good agreement with each other and with the literature. Whereas, the S-values calculated using the internal decay data of the MC codes, for instance, for Ga-67 and Y-90, showed discrepancies up to 40%. Radial energy profiles were also different from those reported in the literature. Our results show that well validated radiation emission spectra must be used for such calculations and internal decay spectra of MC codes should be used with caution. The normalized probability density functions must be used to sample points uniformly into spherical volumes and the methodology proposed here can be used to correctly determine radial energy profiles. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/15316-7 - Study of the interaction of heavy charged particles with DNA using computational methods
• Grantee: Mario Antonio Bernal Rodriguez
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• FAPESP's process: 15/21873-8 - Establishment and application of methodologies for optimizing imaging techniques in digital radiology
• Grantee: Alessandra Tomal
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 11/51594-2 - Development of a computational system for the simulation of the interaction of ionizing radiations with the human genetic material
• Grantee: Mario Antonio Bernal Rodriguez
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants