The 2002 dosimetry system (DS02) and available fluences for organ dose calculations

The A bomb dosimetry system (DS) calculates each survivor's organ doses. It does this by calculating the angular fluences incident on each survivor. These are used with humanoid phantom shielding calculations to estimate organ doses in 15 organs, 3-sized phantoms, 2 sexes and 2 postures at any orientation or distance to the bomb. The DS has been re-used and updated several times. Currently, efforts are being considered to include shielding for additional organs by adding additional phantoms. The DS has gone through a series of upgrades referred to as: DS84, DS86, DS86R, DS93, DS02. DS86 and DS02 were approved and installed at Radiation Effects Research Foundation. The system uses free-field energy-angular fluence from a discrete ordinate calculation coupled with Monte Carlo adjoint-shielding histories. This paper briefly discusses the adjoint Monte Carlo; combinatorial shield geometry for the phantom, house, factory, and terrain; modifications to use fictitious scattering in voxel phantoms; the adjoint source energy, angle and location distribution; 'leakage histories' and their optimisation for dose or fluence; doubly differential (energy-angle) coupling for single-, double-, or triple-shielding coupling; output of various components of dose and energy-angular fluences; survivor-specific inputs; organ dose uncertainty; and testing, benchmarking and extended applications. Also, approaches to add additional organ-shielding calculations to DS02 are discussed.     

A comparison of organ doses between mathematical and voxel phantoms with the DS02 photon fluences

The purpose of this study is to quantify dosimetric differences if modern sophisticated voxel phantoms were used in the dosimetry system DS02 rather than the mathematical phantoms. The mathematical models (ADAM and EVA) and voxel phantoms (REX and REGINA) developed in Germany allow a useful comparison as they are very close in body weight, body height and organ masses. In this study, organ doses are calculated with published fluence-to-absorbed-dose conversion coefficients derived from those two model sets for unidirectional plane beam irradiation geometries, with DS02 photon energy spectra at various distances from the hypocentre in Hiroshima. Results showed that organ doses from mathematical models generally agree well with those from voxel phantoms except for a few organs at lateral irradiation geometries and eye lenses at antero-posterior irradiation, even though there were significant differences between the two phantom sets and various uncertainties in dose calculations.     

Body and organ dimensions of the 1945 Japanese population used in dosimetry system DS86 and data available for an expanded series of phantoms

The computational phantoms used in dosimetry system DS86 and re-used in DS02 were derived from models and methods developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) in the US, but referred to Japanese anthropometric data for the Japanese population of 1945, from studies conducted at the Japanese National Institute of Radiological Sciences and other sources. The phantoms developed for DS86 were limited to three hermaphroditic models: infant, child and adult. After comparing data from Japanese and Western populations, phantoms were adapted from the pre-existing ORNL series, adjusting some organs in the adult phantom to reflect differences between Japanese and Western data, but not in the infant and child phantoms. To develop a new and larger series of more age- and sex-specific models, it appears necessary to rely on the original Japanese data and values derived from them, which can directly provide population-average body dimensions for various ages. Those data were re-analysed in conjunction with other Asian data for an Asian Reference Man model, providing a rather complete table of organ weights that could be used to scale organs for growth during childhood and adolescence. Although the resulting organ volumes might have some inaccuracies in relation to true population-average values, this is a minor concern because in the DS02 context organ size per se is less important than the correct body size and correct placement of the organ in the body.     

DS86 and DS02 organ dose calculations

A brief review of the techniques used to calculate organ doses for the atomic-bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki is provided using the original dosimetry system 1986 (DS86) and revised dosimetry system 2002 (DS02). The DS02 study was undertaken to address a serious discrepancy between calculated and measured values for neutron activation at Hiroshima that had caused a lack of confidence in the previous dosimetry, designated as DS86. Some potential improvements to the organ dose calculations that were not considered during the DS02 study due to time and funding limitations are recommended in this paper.     

Development of the Japanese reference man model for age-specific phantoms

Recent interest in improving methods for calculating radiation doses to atomic bomb survivors necessitates reinforcing the data on masses of organs of the Japanese population in 1945, including those that are not calculated by DS02, as well as increasing the number of phantoms for different ages. Reference is made to published data on the masses of organs in normal Japanese subjects of 0-90 y of age with more than 5000 samples during 1970-80, as well as the weight and size of the total body. The first Japanese Reference Man model, primarily based on these data and following the ICRP Reference Man concept, is briefly explained. It provides a set of reference values for males and females of six age groups, i.e. 3 months, 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20-50 y. To consider the organ masses of the Japanese population in 1945, the data during the period 1970-80 are compared with the literature data of normal Japanese reported in 1952. Differences between the two sets of organ data in adults are discussed in relation to changes in the national status of nutrition. Additional organ masses of current interest for the Japanese population in 1945 are preliminarily considered.     

Dosimetric models used in the Alpha-Risk project to quantify exposure of uranium miners to radon gas and its progeny

The European project Alpha-Risk aims to quantify the cancer and non-cancer risks associated with multiple chronic radiation exposures by epidemiological studies, organ dose calculation and risk assessment. In the framework of this project, mathematical models have been applied to the organ dosimetry of uranium miners who are internally exposed to radon and its progeny as well as to long-lived radionuclides present in the uranium ore. This paper describes the methodology and the dosimetric models used to calculate the absorbed doses to specific organs arising from exposure to radon and its progeny in the uranium mines. The results of dose calculations are also presented.     

The validation of organ dose calculations using voxel phantoms and Monte Carlo methods applied to point and water immersion sources

The Monte Carlo program 'Visual Monte Carlo-dose calculation' (VMC-dc) uses a voxel phantom to simulate the body organs and tissues, transports photons through this phantom and reports the absorbed dose received by each organ and tissue relevant to the calculation of effective dose as defined in ICRP Publication 60. This paper shows the validation of VMC-dc by comparison with EGSnrc and with a physical phantom containing TLDs. The validation of VMC-dc by comparison with EGSnrc was made for a collimated beam of 0.662 MeV photons irradiating a cube of water. For the validation by comparison with the physical phantom, the case considered was a whole body irradiation with a point 137Cs source placed at a distance of 1 m from the thorax of an Alderson-RANDO phantom. The validation results show good agreement for the doses obtained using VMC-dc and EGSnrc calculations, and from VMC-dc and TLD measurements. The program VMC-dc was then applied to the calculation of doses due to immersion in water containing gamma emitters. The dose conversion coefficients for water immersion are compared with their equivalents in the literature.     

Potential of modern technologies for improving internal exposure monitoring

Internal dosimetry is the science of assessing the amount and distribution of radionuclides in the body, and calculating resulting radiation doses to internal organs or tissues over specific time periods. Because the ionizing radiation energy deposited in a particular organ from radionuclides incorporated in the body cannot be measured directly, internal doses are estimated or inferred principally from in vivo or in vitro bioassay. As a matter of fact, in an effort to implement effective programmes in internal dosimetry, since internal dosimetry programmes exist, the internal dosimetry laboratories have always tried to develop new capabilities for these techniques or achieve the harmonisation in individual monitoring for occupational exposures. The primary goal of this paper is to categorise the principal trends made in recent developments in these fields regarding their potential and eligibility for the routine monitoring community and discuss the main aspects, which aims at a comprehensive assessment of these techniques. Secondly, starting from these data, their potential improvements are compared to the currently employed monitoring techniques used in routines.     

BEM calculation for magnetic shielding with steel sheets

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is adapted to the solution of two-dimensional and axisymmetrical nonlinear shielding problems. The high vector-field accuracy attainable permits studies of extremely uniform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fields to be made as well as less demanding shielding calculations. A technique is described in which nonlinearities are replaced by virtual sources in an explicit iteration scheme. All unknowns are on boundaries only and matrix size is not increased due to interior nonlinearities. An example is given. Suggestions for efficiency improvements are made.     

Relations between tooth enamel dose and organ doses for electron spin resonance dosimetry against external photon exposure

An analysis of doses to tooth enamel and to organs was carried out to develop a method that can predict the organ doses and the effective dose by electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry using tooth samples for external photon exposure. Absorbed dose to tooth enamel and organ doses were obtained by Monte Carlo calculations using the EGS4 code in combination with a mathematical human model with a newly defined teeth part. The calculations gave quantitative relations between tooth enamel dose and organ doses for some cases of external photon exposure. It was also found that tooth enamel dose depends more significantly on energy of incident photons than the other organ dose or the effective dose. The obtained data are to be useful for the assessment of individual dose in past exposure events by the ESR dosimetry using tooth enamel.     

MCNPX internal dosimetry studies based on the NORMAN-05 voxel model

Anthropomorphic computational models coupled with radiation transport codes are valuable tools in radiation protection dosimetry. In particular, they are very reliable for the estimate of the energy absorbed by different organs due to an incorporated radionuclide. MIRD-based stylised analytical models are widely accepted as standards but the recent generation of voxel phantoms, developed on real anatomical data derived from tomographic images, can represent a valid alternative for radiation protection and dosimetry purposes. Specific absorbed fraction evaluation and patient-specific dose estimate in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy could be considered as the optimal area for their implementation and use. On the other hand, the accuracy of organ and body structure representation guarantees an improved dose evaluation system also for radiation protection purposes in the workplace in case of accidental internal contamination. In the present work the voxel model NORMAN-05, a modified version of NORMAN (HPA, UK) model, has been employed with the Monte Carlo code MCNPX. Some preliminary investigations were carried out to evaluate the absorbed fractions for a series of source-target organ couples in case of gamma emitters and the organ absorbed doses in case of 90Sr incorporation. The paper summarises the main preliminary outcomes of such studies.     

Human exposure to space radiation: role of primary and secondary particles

Human exposure to space radiation implies two kinds of risk, both stochastic and deterministic. Shielding optimisation therefore represents a crucial goal for long-term missions, especially in deep space. In this context, the use of radiation transport codes coupled with anthropomorphic phantoms allows to simulate typical radiation exposures for astronauts behind different shielding, and to calculate doses to different organs. In this work, the FLUKA Monte Carlo code and two phantoms, a mathematical model and a voxel model, were used, taking the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) spectra from the model of Badhwar and O'Neill. The time integral spectral proton fluence of the August 1972 Solar Particle Event (SPE) was represented by an exponential function. For each aluminium shield thickness, besides total doses the contributions from primary and secondary particles for different organs and tissues were calculated separately. More specifically, organ-averaged absorbed doses, dose equivalents and a form of 'biological dose', defined on the basis of initial (clustered) DNA damage, were calculated. As expected, the SPE doses dramatically decreased with increasing shielding, and doses in internal organs were lower than in skin. The contribution of secondary particles to SPE doses was almost negligible; however it is of note that, at high shielding (10 g cm(-2)), most of the secondaries are neutrons. GCR organ doses remained roughly constant with increasing Al shielding. In contrast to SPE results, for the case of cosmic rays, secondary particles accounted for a significant fraction of the total dose.     

Organ dose conversions from ESR measurements using tooth enamel of atomic bomb survivors

Dose conversions were studied for dosimetry of atomic bomb survivors based upon electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of tooth enamel. Previously analysed data had clarified that the tooth enamel dose could be much larger than other organ doses from a low-energy photon exposure. The radiation doses to other organs or whole-body doses, however, are assumed to be near the tooth enamel dose for photon energies which are dominant in the leakage spectrum of the Hiroshima atomic bomb assumed in DS02. In addition, the thyroid can be a candidate for a surrogate organ in cases where the tooth enamel dose is not available in organ dosimetry. This paper also suggests the application of new Japanese voxel phantoms to derive tooth enamel doses by numerical analyses.     

Use of lead shields for radiation protection of superficial organs in patients undergoing head CT examinations

Head computed tomography examinations are often accompanied with unnecessary irradiation of superficial organs that are rarely the main target for the investigation. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that lead shields could be effectively used to protect superficial organs without compromising image quality where superficial organ itself is not a target and that the irradiation of the superficial organ is unavoidable. The objective was achieved by first assessing the image quality using phantom measurements made with and without lead shielding in order to determine optimal shielding thickness for patient applications. The entrance surface doses (ESDs) to superficial organs of sixty patients were measured using LiF-thermoluminescent dosemeters without, with one layer, or with two layers of lead shields. Phantom studies demonstrated that the use of modified lead shields of up to 0.25 mm thickness could be used without significant effect on the image quality for central and posterior regions. In these studies, lead shields of 0.25 mm thickness reduce the ESDs to the lens of the eyes and thyroid by 44 and 51%, respectively. The image quality reduction by eye shields was significant to the anterior (i.e. orbital) region but marginal to the central and posterior regions (cerebrum). In view of the above, the use of modified lead shields could reduce the dose to the superficial organs considerably without significantly compromising image quality.     

Patient-specific dosimetry in radionuclide therapy

This study presents an attempt to compare individualised palliative treatment absorbed doses, by planar images data and Monte Carlo simulation, in two in vivo treatment cases, one of bone metastases and the other of liver lesions. Medical Internal Radiation Dose schema was employed to estimate the absorbed doses. Radiopharmaceutical volume distributions and absorbed doses in the lesions as well as in critical organs were also calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. Individualised planar data calculations remain the method of choice in internal dosimetry in nuclear medicine, but with the disadvantage of attenuation and scatter corrections lack and organ overlay. The overall error is about 7 % for planar data calculations compared with that using Monte Carlo simulation. Patient-specific three-dimensional dosimetric calculations using single-photon emission computed tomography with a parallel computed tomography study is proposed as an accurate internal dosimetry with the additional use of dose-volume histograms, which express dose distributions in cases with obvious inhomogeneity.     

Applicability and limitations of the Adam mathematical phantom with respect to radiological protection

Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of radiation transport is applied to an anthropomorphic mathematical (ADAM) or Zubal's voxel phantom, representing a male adult. The purpose is to compare absorbed energy in various organs (liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, spleen, adrenals and heart) in the simplified (mathematical) and more realistic (voxel) anatomy. A broad beam of monodirectional and monoenergetic photons (20 keV to 10 MeV), perpendicular to the longitudinal body axis, is incident on the front (AP) or the back (PA) of the phantom. Two MC codes, MCNP-4C and MCNPX-2.1.5, are used for the calculations. Specific absorbed fraction as a function of energy reflects the shielding of an organ by other organs. Comparison of the results for the two phantoms enables an evaluation of the applicability and the limitations of ADAM with respect to radiological protection. The cases studied indicate no urgent need to replace the (commonly used) mathematical phantom by a more sophisticated voxel phantom.     

Estimating cancer risks to adults undergoing body CT examinations

The purpose of the study is to estimate cancer risks from the amount of radiation used to perform body computed tomography (CT) examination. The ImPACT CT Patient Dosimetry Calculator was used to compute values of organ doses for adult body CT examinations. The radiation used to perform each examination was quantified by the dose-length product (DLP). Patient organ doses were converted into corresponding age and sex dependent cancer risks using data from BEIR VII. Results are presented for cancer risks per unit DLP and unit effective dose for 11 sensitive organs, as well as estimates of the contribution from 'other organs'. For patients who differ from a standard sized adult, correction factors based on the patient weight and antero-posterior dimension are provided to adjust organ doses and the corresponding risks. At constant incident radiation intensity, for CT examinations that include the chest, risks for females are markedly higher than those for males, whereas for examinations that include the pelvis, risks in males were slightly higher than those in females. In abdominal CT scans, risks for males and female patients are very similar. For abdominal CT scans, increasing the patient age from 20 to 80 resulted in a reduction in patient risks of nearly a factor of 5. The average cancer risk for chest/abdomen/pelvis CT examinations was ～26 % higher than the cancer risk caused by 'sensitive organs'. Doses and radiation risks in 80 kg adults were ～10 % lower than those in 70 kg patients. Cancer risks in body CT can be estimated from the examination DLP by accounting for sex, age, as well as patient physical characteristics.     

Doses and risks from uranium are not increased significantly by interactions with natural background photon radiation

The impact of depleted uranium (DU) on human health has been the subject of much conjecture. Both the chemical and radiological aspects of its behaviour in the human body have previously been investigated in detail, with the radiological impact being assumed to be linked to the alpha decay of uranium. More recently, it has been proposed that the accumulation in tissue of high-Z materials, such as DU, may give rise to enhanced local energy deposition in the presence of natural background photon radiation due to the high photoelectric interaction cross sections of high-Z atoms. It is speculated that, in addition to producing short-range photoelectrons, these events will be followed by intense Auger and Coster-Kronig electron emission, thereby causing levels of cell damage that are unaccounted for in conventional models of radiological risk. In this study, the physical and biological bases of these claims are investigated. The potential magnitudes of any effect are evaluated and discussed, and compared with the risks from other radiological or chemical hazards. Monte Carlo calculations are performed to estimate likely energy depositions due to the presence of uranium in human tissues in photon fields: whole body doses, organ doses in anthropomorphic phantoms and nano-/micro-dosimetric scenarios are each considered. The proposal is shown generally to be based on sound physics, but overall the impact on human health is expected to be negligible.     

Reference values for basic human anatomical and physiological characteristics for use in radiation protection

A new publication prepared by the ICRP Task Group on Reference Man, Basic anatomical and physiological data for use in radiological protection: reference values, is focused on those human characteristics that are important for dosimetric calculations. Moving from the past emphasis on a Reference Man, the new report presents a series of reference values for both male and female subjects of six different ages--newborn, 1, 5, 10, 15 y, and adult. In selecting reference values, the task group has used data on Western Europeans and North Americans because these populations have been well studied with respect to anatomy, body composition and physiology. When appropriate, comparisons are made between the chosen reference values and data from several Asian populations. The reference values for height and body mass are higher than those reported for various Asian populations. However, the reported masses of individual organs and tissues, particularly for China and Japan, are similar to the reference values.     

Organ and effective dose evaluation in diagnostic radiology based on in-phantom dose measurements with novel photodiode-dosemeters

Organ and the effective doses of patients undergoing clinical X ray examinations of chest and abdomen were evaluated with an anthropomorphic phantom and a new dosimetry system. The system was comprised of 34 pin photodiode dosemeters placed in/on particular tissues or organs of the anthropomorphic phantom, where the tissues and organs are defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) to estimate the effective doses. Dosemeter signals were acquired on a personal computer directly, and converted into absorbed doses, from which the organ and the effective doses were evaluated on the computer. Our study showed that organ doses ranged from <0.01 to 0.72 mGy in routine X-ray radiography of chest and of abdomen and from 0.07 to 55.91 mGy in routine computed tomography (CT) examinations with current multi-slice CT scanners. The effective dose observed in the chest CT examination was approximately 300 times higher than that in chest radiography.