Study of Radiation Dose Enhancement to Capillary Endothelial Cells Due to the Presence of Heavy Metal Nanoparticles in Two Cell and Tumor Scales by Monte Carlo Method

Recently, the use of various sensitizers has been used to increase photon-induced doses in brachytherapy. One of these cases is the addition of heavy metal nanoparticles such as gold in the target area, which increases the production of ionizing electrons by increasing the possibility of photoelectric effects, and increases the efficacy of the treatment. In this study, the target of the irradiation was the endothelial cell in the wall of blood capillaries located inside the tumor, which, if destroyed, would result in abnormal blood cell counts and tumor cell death.

The effect of using nanoparticles of gold, silver, bismuth and copper has been evaluated by calculating the dose increase ratio using Geant4 tool that was based on Monte Carlo method. These calculations were performed on two microscopic (cellular) and macroscopic (tumor dimensions) scale and the effects of different concentrations of these nanoparticles were compared. Also, the dose increase ratio has been evaluated to determine the most appropriate photon energy range.

As the concentration of nanoparticles increases, the dose enhancement factor increased in photon energy. In addition, for energies less than 70 keV, with increasing energy, dose enhancement factor increased and for energies above 80 keV, this quantity decreased with increasing energy.

In terms of dose, gold is the best option, and in terms of the dose enhancement factor, silver and bismuth are better alternative among the four elements studied. Also, the most suitable photon energy range is 70 keV to 80 keV.