FLUKA Monte Carlo-based Evaluation of Linear Energy Transfer Distributions for Monoenergetic Therapeutic Carbon-ion Beams in Water
Abstract
Background: This study aims to calculate the distribution of linear energy transfer (LET) and its moments such as fluence-averaged LET (LETf) and dose-averaged LET (LETd) as a function of on-axis depth in water for monoenergetic carbon-ion beams with energies ranging from 80 to 480 MeV/u. Materials and Methods: Depth-dose profiles, LET distributions, LETf, and LETd are calculated as a function of on-axis depth in a 40 cm × 40 cm × 40 cm unit-density liquid water phantom using the FLUKA Monte Carlo code, fully incorporating the contributions of primary ions and all secondary charged fragments. Results: Results show that both LETf and LETd increase with depth and reach a maximum near the Bragg peak region, followed by a rapid fall-off in the distal region as the fluence of heavy ion fragments decreases. Higher beam energies result in deeper LET peaks and more pronounced fragmentation tails in the depth-dose profiles. In the Bragg peak region, depending on beam energy, the LETf and LETd values are in the range of 11.7–106.4 keV/mm and 210.7–384.6 keV/mm, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, the results provide a comprehensive characterization of physical and radiobiological parameters for monoenergetic carbon-ion beams in the therapeutic energy range, essential for benchmarking LET-based RBE models, improving treatment plan robustness, and optimizing biological dose delivery in carbon-ion radiotherapy.
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BibTeX
@article{chattaraj2026fluka,
title = {{FLUKA Monte Carlo-based Evaluation of Linear Energy Transfer Distributions for Monoenergetic Therapeutic Carbon-ion Beams in Water}},
author = {Arghya Chattaraj and T. Palani Selvam and Vandana Shrivastava},
journal = {Journal of Medical Physics},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.4103/jmp.jmp_140_26},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4103/jmp.jmp_140_26},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - FLUKA Monte Carlo-based Evaluation of Linear Energy Transfer Distributions for Monoenergetic Therapeutic Carbon-ion Beams in Water
AU - Arghya Chattaraj
AU - T. Palani Selvam
AU - Vandana Shrivastava
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Journal of Medical Physics
DO - 10.4103/jmp.jmp_140_26
UR - https://doi.org/10.4103/jmp.jmp_140_26
AB - Background: This study aims to calculate the distribution of linear energy transfer (LET) and its moments such as fluence-averaged LET (LETf) and dose-averaged LET (LETd) as a function of on-axis depth in water for monoenergetic carbon-ion beams with energies ranging from 80 to 480 MeV/u. Materials and Methods: Depth-dose profiles, LET distributions, LETf, and LETd are calculated as a function of on-axis depth in a 40 cm × 40 cm × 40 cm unit-density liquid water phantom using the FLUKA Monte Carlo code, fully incorporating the contributions of primary ions and all secondary charged fragments. Results: Results show that both LETf and LETd increase with depth and reach a maximum near the Bragg peak region, followed by a rapid fall-off in the distal region as the fluence of heavy ion fragments decreases. Higher beam energies result in deeper LET peaks and more pronounced fragmentation tails in the depth-dose profiles. In the Bragg peak region, depending on beam energy, the LETf and LETd values are in the range of 11.7–106.4 keV/mm and 210.7–384.6 keV/mm, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, the results provide a comprehensive characterization of physical and radiobiological parameters for monoenergetic carbon-ion beams in the therapeutic energy range, essential for benchmarking LET-based RBE models, improving treatment plan robustness, and optimizing biological dose delivery in carbon-ion radiotherapy.
SN - 0971-6203
SN - 1998-3913
ER -