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Radiation Damage in Biomolecular Systems pp 203–225Cite as

Monte Carlo Methods to Model Radiation Interactions and Induced Damage

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Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering ((BIOMEDICAL))

Abstract

This review is devoted to the analysis of some Monte Carlo (MC) simulation programmes which have been developed to describe radiation interaction with biologically relevant materials. Current versions of the MC codes Geant4 (GEometry ANd Tracking 4), PENELOPE (PENetration and Energy Loss of Positrons and Electrons), EPOTRAN (Electron and POsitron TRANsport), and LEPTS (Low-Energy Particle Track Simulation) are described. Mean features of each model, as the type of radiation to consider, the energy range covered by primary and secondary particles, the type of interactions included in the simulation and the considered target geometries are discussed. Special emphasis lies on recent developments that, together with (still emerging) new databases that include adequate data for biologically relevant materials, bring us continuously closer to a realistic, physically meaningful description of radiation damage in biological tissues.

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Acknowledgments

Work presented in this contribution has been partially supported by the following projects and institutions: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Project FIS2009-10245), EU Framework Programme (COST Action MP1002) and the Australian Research Council through its Centres of Excellence program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Antonio Muñoz

  2. Instituto de Física Fundamental, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Martina C. Fuss & Gustavo García Gómez-Tejedor

  3. Departamento de Física de los Materiales, UNED, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Gustavo García Gómez-Tejedor

  4. Departamento de Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Sevilla, E-41080, Sevilla, Spain

    M. A. Cortés-Giraldo & J. M. Quesada

  5. CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, CENBG, Université Bordeaux 1, 120, 33175, Gradignan, France

    Sébastien Incerti, Anton Ivanchenko & Christophe Champion

  6. Laboratoire de Physique Moléculaire et des Collisions, Institut de Physique, Université Paul Verlaine-Metz, 57078, Metz Cedex 3, France

    Vladimir Ivanchenko & Christophe Champion

  7. Geant4 Associates International Ltd, Manchester, UK

    Anton Ivanchenko

  8. Facultat de Física (ECM), Universitat de Barcelona, Societat Catalana de Física (IEC), 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Salvat

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  1. Antonio Muñoz
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Correspondence to Gustavo García Gómez-Tejedor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cien, Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF), Serrano 113-bis, Madrid, 28006, Spain

    Gustavo García Gómez-Tejedor

  2. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cien, Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF), Serrano 113bis, Madrid, 28006, Spain

    Martina Christina Fuss

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Muñoz, A. et al. (2012). Monte Carlo Methods to Model Radiation Interactions and Induced Damage. In: García Gómez-Tejedor, G., Fuss, M. (eds) Radiation Damage in Biomolecular Systems. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2564-5_13

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