Gate 10: A Python-Based Monte Carlo Platform Enabling Accessible, Multiscale Radiobiology and Particle Transport Simulations
Abstract
Purpose
Monte Carlo particle transport simulations are essential in medical physics, including radiotherapy, nuclear imaging, detector development, and radiobiology. However, traditional Monte Carlo workflows remain difficult to scale, automate, and integrate with modern data analysis tools. This work introduces GATE 10, a major evolution of the GATE Monte Carlo platform based on a Python-driven user interface, and presents ongoing developments to extend GATE 10 toward radiobiology and radiochemistry simulations through integration of Geant4-DNA track-structure physics.
Methods
GATE 10 combines a Python scripting interface with a modular C++ runtime built on Geant4, allowing users to configure, execute, and post-process simulations within a single programmable environment. This design supports large multi-run simulation campaigns and integration with external Python-based tools. We describe the architectural principles enabling extensibility in GATE 10 and outline recent and ongoing development efforts toward incorporating Geant4-DNA physics, including handling of track-structure processes, geometry definition, and scoring concepts for nanometer-scale energy deposition and future radiochemical modeling.
Results
GATE 10 is released and publicly available and can be installed via a single-line command. The platform provides validated dose scorers, including models for linear energy transfer and relative biological effectiveness, as well as advanced particle sources, including generative artificial intelligence–based models. More than 200 automated test simulations are distributed as validation tools and executable examples covering a broad range of medical physics applications. In parallel, prototype developments demonstrate the feasibility of integrating Geant4-DNA track-structure physics within GATE 10, enabling localized nanometer-scale energy deposition calculations in clinically relevant irradiation scenarios.
Conclusion
GATE 10 represents a paradigm shift in Monte Carlo simulation by making particle transport simulations more accessible, manageable, and integrable. The ongoing integration of Geant4-DNA positions GATE 10 as a multiscale platform spanning clinical beam delivery and DNA-scale interactions, with broad relevance for medical physics research.