• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제56권7호
• /
• pp.2516-2523
• /
• 2024

This study aims to validate the dosimetric characteristics of Low Dose Rate (LDR) I-125 source Geant4-based Monte Carlo code. According to the recommendation of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) task group report (TG-43), the dosimetric parameters of a new brachytherapy source should be verified either experimentally or theoretically before clinical procedures. The simulation studies are very important since this procedure delivers a high dose of radiation to the tumor with only a minimal dose affecting the surrounding tissues. GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit associated brachytherapy example was modified, adapted and several updated techniques have been developed to facilitate and smooth radiotherapy techniques. The great concordance of the current study results with the consensus data and with the results of other MC based studies is promising. It implies that Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation has the potential to be used as a reliable and standard simulation code in the field of brachytherapy for verification and treatment planning purposes.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제35권3호
• /
• pp.124-134
• /
• 2010

Geant4 전산모사 toolkit은 버전에 따라 개선되거나 새로워진 물리적 모델을 제공한다. 최근 재 코드화 된 Geant4.9.3은 저 에너지 전자기 물리 모델에 대해 Livermore 데이터 삽입과 새로운 물리적 모델을 적용시키고, 코드를 수정하여 물리적 요소를 개선시켰다. 본 연구에서는 향후, 전자 또는 입자를 이용한 신뢰성 있는 전산모사를 위하여 Geant4.9.2와 9.3에 포함된 전자기 물리모델을 이용하여 물질 내부를 통과하는 입자의 저지능(Stopping power)과 CSDA(Continuously Slowing Down Approximation) range 데이터를 획득하였으며, 이 결과를 미국국립기술표준원(National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST)에서 제공하는 각각의 데이터와 비교하여, Geant4.9.2에 대한 Geant4.9.3의 저 에너지 전자기 물리 모델의 개선 여부를 알아보고자 하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제54권11호
• /
• pp.4209-4214
• /
• 2022

Precise modelling of the interaction of ions with materials is important for many applications including material characterization, ion implantation in devices, thermonuclear fusion, hadron therapy, secondary particle production (e.g. neutron), etc. In this study, a new approach using the Geant4 toolkit in combination with the Bayesian regularization (BR) learning algorithm of the feed-forward neural network (FFNN) is developed to estimate the range of ions in materials accurately and quickly. The different incident ions at different energies are interacted with the target materials. The Geant4 is utilized to model the interactions and to calculate the range of the ions. Afterward, the appropriate architecture of the FFNN-BR with the relevant input features is utilized to learn the modelled ranges and to estimate the new ranges for the new cases. The notable achievements of the proposed approach are: 1- The range of ions in different materials is given as quickly as possible and the time required for estimating the ranges can be neglected (i.e. less than 0.01 s by a typical personal computer). 2- The proposed approach can generalize its ability for estimating the new untrained cases. 3- There is no need for a pre-made lookup table for the estimation of the range values.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제37권3호
• /
• pp.146-148
• /
• 2012

The use of GEANT4 simulation toolkit has increased in the radiation medical field for the design of treatment system and the calibration or validation of treatment plans. Moreover, it is used especially on calculating dose simulation using medical data for radiation therapy. However, using internal visualization tool of GEANT4 detector constructions on expressing dose result has deficiencies because it cannot display isodose line. No one has attempted to use this code to a real patient's data. Therefore, to complement this problem, using the result of gMocren that is a three-dimensional volume-visualizing tool, we tried to display a simulated dose distribution and isodose line on medical image. In addition, we have compared cross-validation on the result of gMocren and GEANT4 simulation with commercial radiation treatment planning system. We have extracted the analyzed data of dose distribution, using real patient's medical image data with a program based on Monte Carlo simulation and visualization tool for radiation isodose mapping.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제56권6호
• /
• pp.2421-2427
• /
• 2024

In this research, the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was simulated and exposed to electron radiation with up to 20 keV energy. Absorbed energy was measured for spike protein, nucleocapsid protein, and envelope of the virus. Simulations were performed by Geant4-DNA in a water environment at temperature of 20 ℃ and pressure of 1 atm. Since the viral RNA is kept inside the nucleocapsid protein, damage to this area could destroy the viral RNA strand and create an inactive virus. Our findings showed that electron beams with an energy of 2.5 keV could cause a maximum absorption dose and consequently maximum damage to the nucleocapsid and effectively be used for inactivation virus.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제51권5호
• /
• pp.1444-1450
• /
• 2019

The fast-neutron shielding behaviour (FNSB) of two clay-materials (Ball clay and Kaolin)of Southwestern Nigeria ($7.49^{\circ}N$, $4.55^{\circ}E$) have been investigated using effective removal cross section, ${\Sigma}_R(cm^{-1})$, mass removal cross section, ${\Sigma}_{R/{\rho}}(cm^2g^{-1})$ and Mean free path, ${\lambda}$ (cm). These parameters decide neutron shielding behaviour of any material. A computer program - WinNC-Toolkit has been used for computation of these parameters. The toolkit evaluates these parameters by using elemental compositions and densities of samples. The proficiency of WinNC-Toolkit code was probe by using MCNPX and GEANT4 to model fast neutron transmission of the samples under narrow beam geometry, intending to represent the actual experimental setup. Direct calculation of effective removal cross section ($cm^{-1}$) of the samples was also carried out. The results from each of the methods for each types of the studied clay-materials (Ball clay and Kaolin) shows similar trend. The trend might be the fingerprint of water content retained in each of the samples being baked at different temperature. The compositions of each sample have been obtained by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) technique (Tandem Pelletron Accelerator: 1.7 MV, Model 5SDH). The FNSB of the selected clay-materials have been compared with standard concrete. The cognizance of various factors such as availability, thermo-chemical stability and water retaining ability by the clay-samples can be analyzed for efficacy of the material for their FNSB.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
• /
• 제22권2호
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2011

본 연구에서는 GEANT4 toolkit을 이용하여 의료용 선형가속기에 대한 몬테칼로(Monte Carlo) 전산모사를 하였다. Medical Linac2 예제를 수정해서 사용하였다. 에너지스펙트럼, 최빈에너지, 평균에너지를 EGS4 결과와 비교 하였고 선속의 중심에서부터 반경에 따른 단위면적당 광자수, 단위면적당 에너지, 평균에너지를 분석하였다. 그 결과 EGS4 결과와 큰 차이를 보이지 않기 때문에 Medical Linac2 예제의 선속특성에 관한 전산모사에 큰 문제점은 없는 것으로 판단된다. 같은 헤드구조에서도 Physics List의 모델에 따라서는 결과에 차이가 발생하므로 연구 환경에 알맞은 Physics List 모델을 선택하는 것이 중요하다고 판단된다. 본 연구는 처음 몬테칼로 전산모사를 접하는 사용자가 선속특성에 대한 전산모사를 수행하고 6 MV 광자선속의 특성을 분석하는 과정에 많은 도움이 될 것으로 사료된다.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
• /
• 제20권4호
• /
• pp.225-234
• /
• 2009

Geant4 toolkit은 전자기적 상호작용(electromagnetic interactions)에 대한 다양한 물리적 모델을 제공한다. 이러한 물리적 모델들에 대한 검증은 신뢰성 있는 Geant4 응용을 위해서 중요한 역할을 한다. 그러므로, 본 연구의 목적은 양성자 치료 전산모사를 위해 Geant4가 제공하는 물리적 모델 중 전자기 물리 모델의 정확성을 검증하는 것이다. 검증은 물, 뼈, 지방 그리고 원자번호가 다른 물질에 대해 양성자의 CSDA 비정(continuous slowing down approximation range)과 저지능(stopping power) 데이터를 미국 국립기술표준원(National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST)의 데이터를 각각 비교하는 방법으로 이루어졌다. 물, 뼈 그리고 지방에 대해 0.01 MeV에서 10 GeV 범위의 입사 에너지의 CSDA 비정과 저지능 전산모사 결과와 NIST값을 비교한 결과, CSDA 비정의 평균 차는 각각 1.0%, 1.4% 그리고 1.4%를 나타내었고, 저지능에 대한 평균 차는 각각 0.7%, 1.0% 그리고 1.3%를 나타내었다. 또한, 각 물질에 대한 NIST 값과의 유의성을 분석하기 위해 kolmogorov-smirnov Goodness-of-Fit 통계분석 방법을 이용한 결과, 전자기 물리 모델의 전산모사 결과 데이터와 NIST 데이터 사이의 유의성을 나타내는 p-value가 유의 수준 0.05 이상 값을 가진다는 것을 확인 하였으며, 이를 통해 Geant4 전자기 물리 모델의 정확성을 검증할 수 있었다.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
• /
• 제26권1호
• /
• pp.36-41
• /
• 2015

정위체부방사선수술(SBRT) 환자의 선량분포를 계산하기 위해 전산모사 방식을 이용한 응용프로그램을 개발 하였다. 본 소프트웨어는 최근 이용이 활발하게 증가하고 있는 Geant4를 기반으로 개발 하였다. 환자에 조사하기 위한 광자선 스펙트럼은 이전 연구에서 구한 선형가속기 스펙트럼 자료를 사용하였다. 치료계획시스템과 유사한 조사면을 구현하기 위하여 PrimaryGeneratorAction 클래스에서 MLC 조사면 형태를 반영하도록 하였다. 본 연구에서는 8개 조사면에 대한 계산을 수행하였으며 이 때 갠트리의 각도는 PrimaryGeneratorAction 클래스에서 회전 매트릭스를 사용하여 선원의 위치를 변경하는 방법을 사용하였다. 환자에 대한 물질 자료는 CT의 dicom 파일에서 픽셀 크기, 매트릭스 크기 등의 정보와 픽셀의 HU를 밀도로 변환한 파일을 생성한 다음 이 파일을 이용 환자의 모델링에 이용 하였다. 환자의 물질 구성과 기하학적 자료의 입력에 있어 EGSnrc 코드와의 비교를 통하여 계산의 효율성을 비교하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제53권8호
• /
• pp.2767-2773
• /
• 2021

We used the GEANT4 Monte Carlo MC Toolkit to simulate carbon ion beams incident on water, tissue, and bone, taking into account nuclear fragmentation reactions. Upon increasing the energy of the primary beam, the position of the Bragg-Peak transfers to a location deeper inside the phantom. For different materials, the peak is located at a shallower depth along the beam direction and becomes sharper with increasing electron density NZ. Subsequently, the generated depth dose of the Bragg curve is then benchmarked with experimental data from GSI in Germany. The results exhibit a reasonable correlation with GSI experimental data with an accuracy of between 0.02 and 0.08 cm, thus establishing the basis to adopt MC in heavy-ion treatment planning. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov K-S test further ascertained from a statistical point of view that the simulation data matched the experimentally measured data very well. The two-dimensional isodose contours at the entrance were compared to those around the peak position and in the tail region beyond the peak, showing that bone produces more dose, in comparison to both water and tissue, due to secondary doses. In the water, the results show that the maximum energy deposited per fragment is mainly attributed to secondary carbon ions, followed by secondary boron and beryllium. Furthermore, the number of protons produced is the highest, thus making the maximum contribution to the total dose deposition in the tail region. Finally, the associated spectra of neutrons and photons were analyzed. The mean neutron energy value was found to be 16.29 MeV, and 1.03 MeV for the secondary gamma. However, the neutron dose was found to be negligible as compared to the total dose due to their longer range.