Open AccessRadiation damage studies in cardiac muscle cells and tissue using microfocused X‐ray beams: experiment and simulation
Author(s) -
Nicolas Jan-David,
Aeffner Sebastian,
Salditt Tim
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of synchrotron radiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 99
ISSN - 1600-5775
DOI - 10.1107/s1600577519006817
Subject(s) - synchrotron radiation , radiation , materials science , monte carlo method , radiation damage , diffraction , dosimetry , irradiation , soft tissue , optics , x ray , biomedical engineering , physics , computer science , medical physics , nuclear medicine , medicine , nuclear physics , radiology , mathematics , statistics
Soft materials are easily affected by radiation damage from intense, focused synchrotron beams, often limiting the use of scanning diffraction experiments to radiation‐resistant samples. To minimize radiation damage in experiments on soft tissue and thus to improve data quality, radiation damage needs to be studied as a function of the experimental parameters. Here, the impact of radiation damage in scanning X‐ray diffraction experiments on hydrated cardiac muscle cells and tissue is investigated. It is shown how the small‐angle diffraction signal is affected by radiation damage upon variation of scan parameters and dose. The experimental study was complemented by simulations of dose distributions for microfocused X‐ray beams in soft muscle tissue. As a simulation tool, the Monte Carlo software package EGSnrc was used that is widely used in radiation dosimetry research. Simulations also give additional guidance for a more careful planning of dose distribution in tissue.