Dosimetric studies of micro-pencil X-ray beam interacting with labelled tissues by Au and Gd agents using Geant4

The aim of microbeam radiation therapy is to deliver a high dose to tumours while sparing adjacent healthy tissues. Recovery of normal tissues injured by the beam irradiation and ablation of tumour are dependent on the dose distribution generated by the incident microbeams. Using microbeams has the advantage that the areas outside the beams' trajectories (valley region) are poorly irradiated by the radiation scattered inside the tissues. Thus, the normal tissues not directly irradiated are adequately preserved, resulting in a rapid regeneration of blood vessels in the directly irradiated areas (peak region). The goal of this work was to study the effects of using gold (Au) and gadolinium (Gd) as dose enhancement factors on the radial dose distribution when target tissue is irradiated by a micro-pencil X-ray beam. The Monte Carlo Geant4 simulation program was used to evaluate dose distribution in the phantom in two phases. In phase 1, validity of this model based on Geant4 was evaluated by comparing the obtained results with those of the published reports. In phase 2 of this simulation, Au and Gd were introduced to the assumed cancerous cylindrical shell-shaped region both on the surface (i.e. in the 0-1 cm depth of phantom) and in the depth (i.e. in the 4-5 cm depth of phantom). Then the phantom was exposed to a micro-pencil beam mimicking the typical conditions used at the European synchrotron radiation facility in the simulated model. The simulated dose profiles indicate that introducing high Z elements considerably enhances the absorbed dose both in the beam path and in the surrounding region. However, this enhancement is more effective for Au in the beam path and for Gd in the surrounding region. This approach of introducing high Z elements leading to their accumulation in cancerous tissue could hopefully prepare new treatment planning of preclinical trials. (authors)