ABSTRACT
This paper presents a Monte-Carlo study focusing on the effects of gold nanoparticles on the energy deposition patterns produced by incident photons in the close vicinity of the mitochondrial network modeled as a tube. Spherical shaped gold nanoparticles of 30â¯nm diameter were placed in a micrometric (10â¯×â¯10â¯×â¯10⯵m3) water phantom containing a tube of 300â¯nm diameter and 5⯵m length. The tube represented a mitochondrial fragment and nanoparticles were distributed in the water phantom outside the tube. Photons of 120â¯keV were simulated using the Geant4 Livermore processes and the Geant4-DNA electron processes to account for secondary electrons collisions. The Livermore processes took into account the Auger cascade inside the gold material. A data mining algorithm was then used to analyze the energy deposition clusters inside the water phantom and the tube. A comparison was made between the results obtained for a uniform distribution of nanoparticles and a vesicle distribution model. The results including energy deposition clusters are also compared to dose enhancement ratios.