Modeling the Biophysical Effects in a Carbon Beam Delivery Line using Monte Carlo Simulation

Abstract: Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) plays an important role in designing a uniform dose response for ion beam therapy. In this study the biological effectiveness of a carbon ion beam delivery system was investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. A carbon ion beam delivery line was designed for the Korea Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (KHIMA) project. The GEANT4 simulation tool kit was used to simulate carbon beam transporting into media. An incident energy carbon ion beam in the range between 220 MeV/u and 290 MeV/u was chosen to generate secondary particles. The microdosimetric-kinetic (MK) model is applied to describe the RBE of 10% survival in human salivary gland (HSG) cells. The RBE weighted dose was estimated as a function of the penetrating depth of the water phantom along the incident beam direction. A biologically photon-equivalent Spread Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) was designed using the RBE weighted absorbed dose. Finally, the RBE of mixed beams was predicted as a function of the water phantom depth.