skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Comparison of neutron organ and effective dose coefficients for PIMAL stylized phantom in bent postures in standard irradiation geometries

Journal Article · · Radiation and Environmental Biophysics
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge; Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering

Neutron dose coefficients for standard irradiation geometries have been reported in International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 116 for the ICRP Publication 110 adult reference phantoms. In the present paper, organ and effective dose coefficients have been calculated for a receptor in both upright and articulated (bent) postures representing more realistic working postures exposed to a mono-energetic neutron radiation field. This work builds upon prior work by Dewji and co-workers comparing upright and bent postures for exposure to mono-energetic photon fields. Simulations were conducted using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s articulated stylized adult phantom, “Phantom wIth Moving Arms and Legs” (PIMAL) software package, and the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) version 6.1.1 radiation transport code. Organ doses were compared for the upright and bent (45° and 90°) phantom postures for neutron energies ranging from 1 × 10-9 to 20 MeV for the ICRP Publication 116 external exposure geometries—antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), and left and right lateral (LLAT, RLAT). Using both male and female phantoms, effective dose coefficients were computed using ICRP Publication 103 methodology. The resulting coefficients for articulated phantoms were compared to those of the upright phantom. Computed organ and effective dose coefficients are discussed as a function of neutron energy, phantom posture, and source irradiation geometry. For example, it is shown here that for the AP and PA irradiation geometries, the differences in the organ coefficients between the upright and bent posture become more pronounced with increasing bending angle. In the AP geometry, the brain dose coefficients are expectedly higher in the bent postures than in the upright posture, while all other organs have lower dose coefficients, with the thyroid showing the greatest difference. Finally and overall, the effective dose estimated for the upright phantom is more conservative than that for the articulated phantom, which may have ramifications in the estimation or reconstruction of radiation doses.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS); Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; NRCHQ6017D0003
OSTI ID:
1474670
Journal Information:
Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, Vol. 57, Issue 4; ISSN 0301-634X
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (12)

Development of posture-specific computational phantoms using motion capture technology and application to radiation dose-reconstruction for the 1999 Tokai-Mura nuclear criticality accident journal August 2014
Comparison of Monoenergetic Photon Organ dose rate Coefficients for Stylized and Voxel Phantoms Submerged in air journal February 2016
Effective dose conversion coefficients for health care provider exposed to pediatric and adult victims in radiological dispersal device incident journal December 2014
Radiation protection of the eye lens in medical workers—basis and impact of the ICRP recommendations journal April 2016
Estimated dose rates to members of the public from external exposure to patients with 131 I thyroid treatment : External dose rates from journal March 2015
Basic anatomical and physiological data for use in radiological protection: reference values: ICRP Publication 89: Approved by the Commission in September 2001 journal September 2002
Conversion Coefficients for Radiological Protection Quantities for External Radiation Exposures journal April 2010
Comparison of Monoenergetic Photon Organ Dose Rate Coefficients for the Female Stylized and Voxel Phantoms Submerged in Air journal February 2017
Development of PIMAL: Mathematical Phantom with Moving Arms and Legs report May 2007
An exponential growth of computational phantom research in radiation protection, imaging, and radiotherapy: a review of the fifty-year history journal August 2014
Comparison of photon organ and effective dose coefficients for PIMAL stylized phantom in bent positions in standard irradiation geometries journal June 2017
Determining Average Linear Dimension and Volume of Korean Lungs for Lung Phantom Construction journal January 2021