Development and Validation of an Interface Between the BIANCA Biophysical Model and Geant4 for Particle Therapy

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Cancer ion-therapy utilizes precise radiation delivery.
• Accurate prediction of cell death is crucial for treatment planning.
• The BIANCA biophysical model aids in predicting treatment outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the consistency of the BIANCA model across different radiation transport codes.
• To validate BIANCA's reliability for proton, helium, and carbon ion therapy.
• To assess BIANCA's performance with FLUKA and Geant4 codes.

Main Methods:

• Simulated Spread-Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) profiles for protons, helium, and carbon ions.
• Interfaced BIANCA with FLUKA and developed a Geant4 interface.
• Predicted cell survival for Squamous Cell Carcinoma and chordoma cell lines.
• Evaluated agreement using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Gamma Index.

Main Results:

• FLUKA and Geant4 simulations showed good agreement for dose and cell survival.
• Gamma Index passing rates exceeded 94.9% for dose and 96.0% for survival.
• RMSE analysis confirmed discrepancies below 2.5% for dose and 1% for survival.

Conclusions:

• The BIANCA model is consistently reliable when interfaced with FLUKA and Geant4.
• The Geant4 interface enhances BIANCA's accessibility for ion-therapy research.
• This validates BIANCA for predicting cell killing in hadron therapy applications.