Analytic and Monte Carlo calculations of dose-mean lineal energy for 1 MeV-1 GeV protons with application to radiation protection quality factor

Papadopoulos, A.*; Kyriakou, I.*; Matsuya, Yusuke; Corts-Giraldo, M. A.*; Galocha-Oliva, M.*; Plante, I.*; Steward, R. D.*; Tran, N. H.*; Li, W.*; Daglis, I. A.*; et al.

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, 64(1), p.117 - 135, 2025/03

https://doi.org//10.1007/s00411-025-01110-w

Radiation quality for determining biological effects is commonly linked to the microdosimetric quantity, especially dose-mean lineal energy y. Calculations of y can be performed by sophisticated Monte Carlo track structure (MCTS) codes. The y estimate depends on the type of the MCTS code and analysis model. This study focused on proton beams with 1 MeV-1 GeV, which are important in radiation protection, space applications, radiation therapy, etc., and compared the estimates of the y in liquid water by various MCTS codes (PHITS, RITRACK, and Geant4-DNA) and analysis models (refined Xapsos model). The comparison results showed that good agreement with the refined Xapsos model and various MCTS codes can be attained at less than 10-20% level, and Q values by the analytic model are also in better agreement with MCTS simulation data. These findings conclude that the refined analytic model might be used as an alternative to time- and CPU-intensive MCTS simulations and advance practical calculations of radiation qualities and risk assessment.