A simulation study of gold nanoparticles localisation effects on radiation enhancement at the mitochondrion scale

Z. Francis, G. Montarou, S. Incerti, M. Bernal, S. A. Zein

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9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents a Monte-Carlo study focusing on the effects of gold nanoparticles on the energy deposition patterns produced by incident photons in the close vicinity of the mitochondrial network modeled as a tube. Spherical shaped gold nanoparticles of 30 nm diameter were placed in a micrometric (10 × 10 × 10 μm3) water phantom containing a tube of 300 nm diameter and 5 μm length. The tube represented a mitochondrial fragment and nanoparticles were distributed in the water phantom outside the tube. Photons of 120 keV were simulated using the Geant4 Livermore processes and the Geant4-DNA electron processes to account for secondary electrons collisions. The Livermore processes took into account the Auger cascade inside the gold material. A data mining algorithm was then used to analyze the energy deposition clusters inside the water phantom and the tube. A comparison was made between the results obtained for a uniform distribution of nanoparticles and a vesicle distribution model. The results including energy deposition clusters are also compared to dose enhancement ratios.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)148-154
Number of pages7
JournalPhysica Medica
Volume67
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Z. Francis would like to thank the Research Council of the Saint Joseph University for supporting this study under the projects FS133 and FS-SF1. M. A. Bernal would like to thank the Conselho Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico ( CNPq ), Brazil, for financing his research activities through the project 306775/2015-8 . He also acknowledges the support received from the FAPESP foundation in Brazil, through the 2011/51594-2 , 2015/21873-8 , and 2018/15316-7 projects.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Biophysics
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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Francis, Z., Montarou, G., Incerti, S., Bernal, M., & Zein, S. A. (2019). A simulation study of gold nanoparticles localisation effects on radiation enhancement at the mitochondrion scale. Physica Medica, 67, 148-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2019.10.038