Error analysis for the in-vivo measurement of radionuclides in wounds: Monte Carlo study

This paper describes calculation of error associated with the direct in-vivo measurements of radionuclides in a wound. A typical radiation injury to a hand with Am radionuclide is illustrated for error analysis. A Monte Carlo model was developed and the detector pulse spectrum studied with a custom-designed HPGe detector. A pinhole collimator was designed, and its performance with a wide area detector was studied. The results show that significant errors might propagate if the lowest energy peaks of Am are used during in vivo measurements of the wound. In comparison to that, less uncertainty was found for 26.3 and 59.5 keV gamma peaks, and those levels are recommended for estimation of wound depth and activity.