Reply to the comment on 'Monte Carlo calculated microdosimetric spread for cell nucleus-sized targets exposed to brachytherapy 125I and 192Ir sources and 60Co cell irradiation'

Abstract

A discrepancy between the Monte Carlo derived relative standard deviation σzrel (microdosimetric spread) and experimental data was reported by Villegas et al (2013 Phys. Med. Biol. 58 614962) suggesting wall effects as a plausible explanation. The comment by Lindborg et al (2015 Phys. Med. Biol. 60 86214) concludes that this is not a likely explanation. A thorough investigation of the Monte Carlo (MC) transport code used for track simulation revealed a critical bug. The corrected MC version yielded σzrel values that are now within experimental uncertainty. Other microdosimetric findings are hereby communicated.