Recent progress in space weather research for cosmic radiation dosimetry

Sato, Tatsuhiko

Annals of the ICRP, 49(1_suppl), p.185 - 192, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1177/0146645320933401

The radiation environment in space is a complex mixture of particles of solar and galactic origin with a broad range of energies. For astronaut dose estimation, three sources must be considered, namely, galactic cosmic rays (GCR), trapped particles (TP), and solar energetic particles (SEP). More details about the radiation environment in space will be discussed at the symposium, together with the recent progresses on the space weather research for nowcasting and forecasting the astronaut doses due to SEP exposure.

Modernization of the DCHAIN-PHITS activation code with new features and updated data libraries

Ratliff, H.; Matsuda, Norihiro; Abe, Shinichiro; Miura, Takamitsu*; Furuta, Takuya; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Sato, Tatsuhiko

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 484, p.29 - 41, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2020.10.005

Real-time dosimetry system based on an optical fiber-coupled microsized photostimulable phosphor for stereotactic body radiation therapy

Yada, Ryuichi*; Maenaka, Kazusuke*; Miyamoto, Shuji*; Okada, Go*; Sasakura, Aki*; Ashida, Motoi*; Adachi, Masashi*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Wang, T.*; Akasaka, Hiroaki*; et al.

Medical Physics, 47(10), p.5235 - 5249, 2020/10

https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.14383

The dosimeter system is capable of real-time, accurate, and precise measurement under stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) conditions. The probe is smaller than a conventional dosimeter, has excellent spatial resolution, and can be valuable in SBRT with a steep dose distribution over a small field. The developed PSP dosimeter system appears to be suitable for in vivo SBRT dosimetry.

A Theoretical cell-killing model to evaluate oxygen enhancement ratios at DNA damage and cell survival endpoints in radiation therapy

Matsuya, Yusuke; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Nakamura, Rui*; Naijo, Shingo*; Date, Hiroyuki*

Physics in Medicine & Biology, 65(9), p.095006_1 - 095006_12, 2020/05

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ab7d14

Radio-resistance induced under low oxygen pressure plays an important role in malignant progression in fractionated radiotherapy. For the general approach to predict cell killing under hypoxia, cell-killing models (e.g., the Linear-Quadratic model) have to be fitted to experimental survival data for both normoxia and hypoxia to obtain the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER). However, model parameters for every oxygen condition needs to be considered by model-fitting approaches. This is inefficient for fractionated irradiation planning. Here, we present an efficient model for fractionated radiotherapy the integrated microdosimetric-kinetic model including cell-cycle distribution and the OER at DNA double-strand break endpoint. The cell survival curves described by this model can reproduce the experimental survival data for both acute and chronic low oxygen concentrations. The OER used for calculating cell survival agrees well with experimental DSB ratio of normoxia to hypoxia. This work provides biological effective dose (BED) under various oxygen conditions including its uncertainty, which can contribute to creating fractionated regimens for multi-fractionated radiotherapy. If the oxygen concentration in a tumor can be quantified by medical imaging, the present model will make it possible to estimate the cell-killing and BED under hypoxia in more realistic intravital situations.

A Simplified Cluster Analysis of Electron Track Structure for Estimating Complex DNA Damage Yields

Matsuya, Yusuke; Nakano, Toshiaki*; Kai, Takeshi; Shikazono, Naoya*; Akamatsu, Ken*; Yoshii, Yuji*; Sato, Tatsuhiko

International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Internet), 21(5), p.1701_1 - 1701_13, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21051701

Among various DNA damage induced after irradiation, clustered damage composed of at least two vicinal lesions within from 10 to 20 base pairs is recognized as fatal damage to human tissue. Such clustered damage yields have been evaluated by means of computational approaches; however, the simulation validity has not been sufficiently made yet. Meanwhile, the experimental technique to detect clustered DNA damage has been evolved in the recent decades, so both approaches with simulation and experiment get used to be available for investigating clustered damage recently. In this study, we have developed a simple model for estimating clustered damage yield based on the spatial density of ionization and electronic excitation events obtained by the PHITS code, and compared the computational results to the experimental clustered damage coupled with base damage (BD) measured by gel electrophoresis and atomic force microscopy. The computational results agreed well with experimental fractions of clustered damage of strand breaks (SB) and BD, when the yield ratio of BD/SSB is assumed to be 1.3. From the comparison of complex DNA double-strand break coupled with BDs between simulation and experimental data, it was suggested that aggregation degree of the events along electron track reflects the complexity of DNA damage. The resent simulation enables to quantify the type of clustered damage which cannot be measured in in vitro experiment, which succeeded in interpreting the experimental detection efficiency for clustered BD.

PARaDIM; A PHITS-based Monte Carlo tool for internal dosimetry with tetrahedral mesh computational phantoms

Carter, L. M.*; Crawford, T. M.*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Furuta, Takuya; Choi, C.*; Kim, C. H.*; Brown, J. L.*; Bolch, W. E.*; Zanzonico, P. B.*; Lewis, J. S.*

Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 60(12), p.1802 - 1811, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.119.229013

Voxel human phantoms have been used for internal dose assessment. More anatomically accurate representation become possible for skins or layer tissues owing to recent developments of advanced polygonal mesh-type phantoms and thus internal dose assessment using those advanced phantoms are desired. However, the Monte Carlo transport calculation by implementing those phantoms require an advanced knowledge for the Monte Carlo transport codes and it is only limited to experts. We therefore developed a tool, PARaDIM, which enables users to conduct internal dose calculation with PHITS easily by themselves. With this tool, a user can select tetrahedral-mesh phantoms, set radionuclides in organs, and execute radiation transport calculation with PHITS. Several test cases of internal dosimetry calculations were presented and usefulness of this tool was demonstrated.

Modeling of yield estimation for DNA strand breaks based on Monte Carlo simulations of electron track structure in liquid water

Matsuya, Yusuke; Kai, Takeshi; Yoshii, Yuji*; Yachi, Yoshie*; Naijo, Shingo*; Date, Hiroyuki*; Sato, Tatsuhiko

Journal of Applied Physics, 126(12), p.124701_1 - 124701_8, 2019/09

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5115519

Biological effects after ionizing radiation exposure arise from initial DNA strand breaks. DNA damage can be estimated from the simulation with both track structure analysis and diffusion of free radicals; however, the simulation is a time-consuming process. In this study, we present a simple model for estimating yields of strand breaks based only on spatial patterns of inelastic interactions (i.e., ionization and electronic excitation) generated by electrons, which are evaluated by PHITS code without considering the production and diffusion of free radicals. In this model, the number of events per track and that of the two events pair within 3.4 nm (corresponding to 10 base pair) were stochastically sampled for calculating SSB and DSB yields, respectively. The calculated results agreed well with other simulations and experimental data on DSB yield and yield ratio of DSB/SSB for the exposure to mono-energetic electrons. The present model also can demonstrate the relative biological effectiveness at the DSB endpoint for various photon exposures. This study indicated that the spatial pattern of inelastic events composed of ionization and electronic excitation is sufficient to obtain the impact of electrons on initial induction to DNA strand break.

A Biologically based mathematical model for spontaneous and ionizing radiation cataractogenesis

Sakashita, Tetsuya*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Hamada, Nobuyuki*

PLOS ONE (Internet), 14(8), p.e0221579_1 - e0221579_20, 2019/08

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221579

Cataracts have long been known, but a biologically based mathematical model is still unavailable for cataratogenesis. We here report for the first time an in silico model for cataractogenesis. First, a simplified cell proliferation model was developed for human lens growth based on stem and progenitor cell proliferation as well as epithelial-fiber cell differentiation. Then, a model for spontaneous cataractogenesis was developed to reproduce the human data on a relationship between age and cataract incidence. Finally, a model for radiation cataractogenesis was developed that can reproduce the human data on a relationship between dose and cataract onset at various ages, which was further applied to estimate cataract incidence following chronic lifetime exposure.

Impact of irradiation side on neutron-induced single-event upsets in 65-nm Bulk SRAMs

Abe, Shinichiro; Liao, W.*; Manabe, Seiya*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Hashimoto, Masanori*; Watanabe, Yukinobu*

IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 66(7, Part2), p.1374 - 1380, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.2019.2902176

Single event upsets (SEUs) caused by secondary cosmic-ray neutrons have recognized as a serious reliability problem for microelectronic devices. Acceleration tests at neutron facilities are convenient to validate soft error rates (SERs) quickly, but some corrections caused from measurement conditions are required to derive realistic SERs at actual environment or to compare other measured data. In this study, the effect of irradiation side on neutron-induced SEU cross sections was investigated by performing neutron transport simulation using PHITS. SERs for 65-nm bulk CMOS SRAMs are estimated using the sensitive volume model. It was found from simulation that SERs for the sealant side irradiation are 30-50% larger than those for the board side irradiation. This difference comes from the difference of production yield and angular distribution of secondary H and He ions, which are the main cause of SEUs. Thus the direction of neutron irradiation should be reported when the result of acceleration tests are published. This result also indicates that SERs can be reduced by equipping device with sealant side facing downward.

DNA damage induction during localized chronic exposure to an insoluble radioactive microparticle

Matsuya, Yusuke; Satou, Yukihiko; Hamada, Nobuyuki*; Date, Hiroyuki*; Ishikawa, Masayori*; Sato, Tatsuhiko

Scientific Reports (Internet), 9(1), p.10365_1 - 10365_9, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46874-6

Insoluble radioactive microparticles (so called Cs-bearing particles) have been assumed to adhere in the long term to trachea after aspirated into respiratory system, leading to heterogeneous dose distribution within healthy tissue around the particles. The biological effects posed by such a particle remain unclear. Here, we show cumulative DNA damage in cultured cells proximal and distal to the particle under localized chronic exposure in comparison with uniform exposure. We placed the particle-contained microcapillary onto a glass-base dish containing normal human lung cells in vitro, and observed a significant change in nuclear -H2AX foci after 24 h or 48 h exposure to the particle. The dose calculation by a Monte Carlo simulation and the comparison with nuclear foci under uniform exposure suggested that the localized exposure to a Cs-bearing particle leads to not only signal-induced DNA damage to distal cells but also the reduction of DNA damage induction yield to proximal cells (protective effects). Considering the small organ dose, the conventional radiation risk assessment is adequate. This study is the first to quantify the spatial distribution of cumulative DNA lesions under heterogeneous exposure by insoluble Cs-bearing particles.