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The increase in the number of therapeutic proton and ion beam centres worldwide has prompted renewed interest in measuring and simulating microdosimetric spectra in order to help understand the complexity underlying the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) of these treatment modalities. In this context we have studied the capability of the Geant4 toolkit to simulate microdosimetric spectra measured with a Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC) in a clinical carbon ion beam. The simulated spectra were compared with published experimental data obtained along the depth dose curve of a 194 MeV/u carbon beam at the GSI, Darmstadt (Gerlach et al., 2002). The initial beam energy and energy spread employed in the simulation were tuned to match the calculated and measured depth dose distributions. A good agreement was found at all depths after a shift of 4.025 mm was taken into account with agreement for the microdosimetric derived RBE values to within 0.4% and 11.9% for depths 40 and 66 mm in PMMA (Perspex). This work demonstrates that the Geant4 toolkit can accurately reproduce experimental microdosimetric data and can thus be used for independent calculation of lineal energy spectra from which RBE estimates can be derived using the equation of Pihet et al. (1990). The work highlights the difficulty in using experimental work to benchmark Monte Carlo simulations and the need for detailed descriptions of experimental setups used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about the single-event energy deposition in a subcellular biological target, e.g. cell nucleus, is required in order to understand the radiation action and the biological effectiveness of ionizing radiation. This energy deposition can be measured using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC). Such measurements are particularly useful to find the microdosimetric spectra for mixed radiation fields comprising different radiation types and energies. In the present work, several mixed radiation fields were generated by irradiating a mini TEPC, containing a small plug inserted into the hole on the counter wall, with reactor neutrons. The plug, made of A150, boron, nitrogen, lithium or cadmium mixture, was designed to generate different ionizing particles under the neutron irradiation. The measured spectra separated the contributions to the absorbed dose from electrons (photons), protons (neutrons) and heavy ions. The lineal energy spectra demonstrated that three distinct regions of lineal energy y , were identified, i.e. the region from heavy ions at y >100 keV/µm, the region for recoil protons at 10< y <100 keV/µm, and the region due to electrons at y <10 keV/µm. In all measurements, the proton edge and the electron edge were used as marking points to calibrate the lineal energies. The relative magnitudes of the measured spectra in each y region depended on the yields and stopping powers of nuclear reaction products. For instance, lineal energy peaks were identified at y >100 keV/µm due to the 10 B (n, α) 7 Li reaction. If one substitutes the plug material by a radionuclide, microdosimetry spectra could be measured for internal dosimetry applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new miniaturized Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (mini‒TEPC) with cylindrical sensitive volume of 1.0 mm in diameter and height, and with external diameter of 1.53 cm, has been developed to work without gas flow. With this mini counter we have measured the radiation quality of the 148 MeV energy-modulated proton beam at the radiobiological research line of the Trento Proton Therapy Centre. The irradiation field had a diameter of about 6 cm, a modulation width of 2.5 cm and a range of about 13.5 cm. At four specific depths, the response function of the new microdosimeter has also been compared to that of a commercial spherical microdosimeter, the LET-1/2" Spherical TEPC produced by Far West Technology. Afterwards, measurements were performed with the mini‒TEPC at nine precise positions across the Spread-Out Bragg Peak (SOBP). From the microdosimetric spectra the frequency and the dose‒mean lineal energy values, y ‾ F and y ‾ D , were derived for both detectors. Afterwards, microdosimetric assessment of Relative Biological Effectiveness ( R B E μ) has been performed by weighting the dose distribution of the lineal energy, d(y), with the Loncol's biological weighting function r(y). R B E μ has been used to calculate the R B E μ D at different dose levels D. In the distal fall-off region the R B E μ D (d) increases significantly, up to a factor 3. Finally, the R B E μ D -weighted dose was calculated and compared to that obtained with a fixed RBE = 1.1. The use of a variable RBE to weight the physical dose leads to a biological range extension evaluated at R80 of about 2.0 mm, with respect to the R80 obtained with a fixed RBE = 1.1. The use of a mini‒TEPC in proton therapy has been so far limited to 60 MeV proton beams, used for the treatment of ocular melanoma. This is the first time that a mini-TEPC was used with an higher energy proton beam of 148 MeV, and the spectra measured with the mini-TEPC were compared to those measured with the commercial FWT LET1/2 counter for the first time. These new results corroborate the usability of mini-TEPCs in proton therapy. • Mini-TEPC for radiation quality characterization. • Microdosimetry of a 148 MeV proton beam. • RBE assessment in proton therapy through microdosimetry. • RBE increases at the distal edge of proton beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personnel working in the environment of nuclear reactors, fuel reprocessing facilities, high energy accelerators get exposed to a mixed radiation field of electrons, photons, and neutrons with a wide range of energy and fluence. Performance evaluations of the passive personnel dosimeters in these mixed radiation environments require knowledge of the external dose contributed by different types of radiations having variation in their energy, etc. Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counters (TEPC), sensitive to a wide range of particles and energy (Linear Energy Transfer (LET) ∼ 0–1500 keV μm−1), is one of the standard reference detectors which can be used for the characterization of mixed radiation fields. In the present work, HAWK TEPC was used to evaluate different microdosimetric parameters such as dose mean lineal energy (ӯ D), average quality factor (Ǭ), the contribution of gamma and neutron dose equivalents for the characterizations of the radiation fields inside in a nuclear research reactor hall, fuel reprocessing facility, D-D neutron beam facility, radionuclide source based neutron calibration facilities, etc. Measured results were compared with Monte Carlo simulated values using radiation transport code PHITS. TEPC measurement shows that the radiation work field around nuclear reactor facility is dominated by gamma rays with approximate ӯ D and Ǭ of ∼42 keV μm−1 and ∼2.3, respectively. Whereas ӯ D and Ǭ values for neutron dominated locations in fuel reprocessing facility are 82 keV μm−1 and 8.2, respectively. Ǭ values near thermal neutron beam line in research reactor are close to 1 due to (n, γ) reaction. For 2.54 MeV mono-energetic D-D neutron beam, measured and calculated dose mean lineal energies (ӯ D) are 52.5 keV μm−1 and 59.6 keV μm−1, respectively, whereas corresponding Ǭ values are 11.23 and 13.01. Obtained values can be utilized to correlate the neutron and gamma dose equivalents measured by passive detectors used for personnel monitoring program to enhance confidence in the dosimetry. • TEPC based measurement of dose mean lineal energy and radiation quality factor at mixed radiation environments. • Lineal energy spectra analysis at nuclear reactor, fuel reprocessing facility and D-D neutron generator environment. • PHITS based Monte Carlo simulations for different microdosimetric parameters. • Comparison of TEPC and Monte Carlo based results for radionuclide based neutron sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Geant4 model of a tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) has been developed in which the calculated output spectrum exhibits unparalleled agreement with experiment for monoenergetic neutron fields at several energies below 20 MeV. The model uses the standard release of the Geant4 9.6 p2 code, but with a non-standard neutron cross section file as provided by Mendoza et al., and with the environment variable options recommended by the same authors. This configuration was found to produce significant improvements in the alpha-dominated region of the calculated response. In this paper, these improvements are presented, and the post-processing required to convert deposited energy into the number of ion pairs (which is the quantity actually measured experimentally) is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmic ray neutrons are produced by the interaction of primary cosmic rays with the air molecules present in the atmosphere. At the ground level, these secondary neutrons are one of the important contributors of natural cosmic ray radiation background dose. With two major peaks around 1 MeV and 100 MeV, the neutron energies can extend up to 10 GeV. At the ground level, considerable presence of thermal neutrons can also be observed due to collisions and moderation of fast neutrons with the soil and other surrounding materials. A study on the evaluation of cosmic ray neutron spectra, and the resulting ambient dose equivalents was carried out at High Altitude Research Laboratory, Gulmarg, India (altitude 2650 m, N34.0484°, E74.3805°) considering the enhanced contribution of cosmic ray background in the region. Extended energy Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (BSS) was used for the continuous measurement of cosmic ray neutrons during the period of October 2018 to June 2019. Neutron spectra and ambient dose equivalents were unfolded from the BSS counts with the Monte Carlo generated response matrix and the FRUIT unfolding code. Along with Bonner sphere spectrometer, Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC) was also used for a limited period for independent measurement of cosmic ray dose equivalents and Linear Energy Transfer (LET) distribution. For comparison, neutron spectra and dose equivalent rates were also calculated using Monte Carlo code FLUKA and EXPACS software program. The ambient dose equivalent rates were found to vary in the range of 24–34 nSv. h−1 during the entire observation period of 9 months. No considerable seasonal variations were observed during the course of the study. Dose equivalent rates, estimated by the TEPC were slightly higher than the neutron dose equivalent rates measured by BSS. Experimentally measured values match reasonably well with theoretically simulated results. • Neutron spectra of cosmic rays. • Ambient dose equivalent H*(10). • Microdosimetric spectra. • Response matrix calculation using Monte Carlo code. • Unfolding of neutron spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the agreement between proton microdosimetric distributions measured with a silicon-based cylindrical microdosimeter and a previously published analytical microdosimetric model based on Geant4-DNA in-water Monte Carlo simulations for low energy proton beams. Distributions for lineal energy (y) are measured for four proton monoenergetic beams with nominal energies from 2.0 MeV to 4.5 MeV, with a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) and a silicon-based microdosimeter. The actual energy for protons traversing the silicon-based microdosimeter is simulated with SRIM. Monoenergetic beams with these energies are simulated with Geant4-DNA code by simulating a water cylinder site of dimensions equal to those of the microdosimeter. The microdosimeter response is calibrated by using the distribution peaks obtained from the TEPC. Analytical calculations for y ‾ F and y ‾ D using our methodology based on spherical sites are also performed choosing the equivalent sphere to be checked against experimental results. Distributions for y at silicon are converted into tissue equivalent and compared to the Geant4-DNA simulated, yielding maximum deviations of 1.03% for y ‾ F and 1.17% for y ‾ D. Our analytical method generates maximum deviations of 1.29% and 3.33%, respectively, with respect to experimental results. Simulations in Geant4-DNA with ideal cylindrical sites in liquid water produce similar results to the measurements in an actual silicon-based cylindrical microdosimeter properly calibrated. The found agreement suggests the possibility to experimentally verify the calculated clinical y ‾ D with our analytical method. • Validation of analytical microdosimetric models for protons of low energy. • Silicon-based microdosimeter is calibrated and employed for experimental data. • Distributions and averages of lineal energy are compared. • We found agreement among experiments, Geant4-DNA and analytical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]