This thesis describes a Monte-Carlo based simulation study in order to investigate the impact of radiation quality especially linear energy transfer (LET) on the damage of living cell induced by radiation. In this study, the simplified target is used for determining the pattern of the energy deposition of charged particles at different energies in macroscopic level by using Geant4 toolkit. This study highlights the factor that may cause the erroneous LET calculation when using small target in the model. It is shown that although LET is used as a universal term to describes radiation quality, its stochastic nature causes uncertainty when incorporating with biological outcome. In addition, the structural DNA model is used to quantify a number of radiation-induced DNA damage in microscopic level by incorporating with spatial distribution of energy deposition. It is important to note that the number of DNA damage is significantly dependent on adjustable parameters in the simulation including energy threshold for inducing the damage. Finally, the experimental database, PIDE, of various cell types and particles allows investigating the factors including type of cell and particle that influence biological effect.
| Date of Award | 7 Oct 2020 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Roger Barlow (Main Supervisor) & Susan Kilcoyne (Co-Supervisor) |
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