Uncertainty assessment of a two element LiF:Mg,Ti TL personal dosemeter using Monte-Carlo techniques

This paper presents the results of an uncertainty assessment and a comparison study of dose algorithms for H(p)(10) and H(p)(0.07) used for evaluating a routine two-element thermoluminescent whole-body dosemeter. Due to the photon-energy response of the two different filtered LiF:Mg,Ti detector elements, the application of a dose algorithm is necessary to assess the relevant photon doses over the rated energy range with an acceptable energy dependence. A linear dose algorithm with two different sets of parameters was designed to assess the personal dose equivalent in the relevant quantity H(p)(10) and H(p)(0.07). Based on the experimental results from calibrations on the ISO water slab phantom, a detailed uncertainty analysis was performed by means of Monte-Carlo (MC) techniques and other analytical methods. The uncertainty contribution of the individual detector element signals was taken into special consideration. For this analysis, realistic energy and angular distributions were applied to calculate the dosemeter response. It is concluded that the MC method is an appropriate tool to perform uncertainty calculations. The possibility to assign arbitrary probability density functions to the input quantities, as well as to define a complex model function (dose algorithm) allows the simulation of irradiation conditions close to reality.