New mesh-type phantoms and their dosimetric applications, including emergencies

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiological Protection
• Computational Modeling

Background:

• Voxel-type computational phantoms have limitations in representing fine tissue structures.
• ICRP Publication 110 phantoms lacked detailed inclusion of certain tissues crucial for dose calculations.
• Supplemental organ-specific models were previously needed to compensate for these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop high-quality mesh-type adult reference computational phantoms.
• To incorporate previously unresolved tissues (8-40 µm) into reference phantoms for comprehensive dose calculations.
• To evaluate the impact of these new mesh phantoms on dose coefficients and compare them with existing models.

Main Methods:

• Conversion of voxel-type ICRP Publication 110 phantoms to a high-quality mesh format.
• Inclusion of fine-resolution tissues, such as alimentary and respiratory tract layers, lens, and skin basal layer.
• Calculation and comparison of dose coefficients using new mesh phantoms versus existing voxel phantoms and supplemental models for various exposure scenarios.

Main Results:

• The new mesh phantoms include all necessary source and target tissues for effective dose calculations.
• Dose coefficients calculated with mesh phantoms differ from those using Publication 110 phantoms and supplemental models.
• Mesh phantoms were successfully used to calculate dose coefficients for industrial radiography scenarios, including deformed phantoms for worker size and posture variations.

Conclusions:

• The developed mesh-type reference phantoms offer improved accuracy for effective dose calculations in radiological protection.
• These phantoms eliminate the need for supplemental organ-specific models, streamlining dose assessment.
• The new phantoms are valuable tools for evaluating occupational exposure, particularly in scenarios involving industrial radiography.