Construction of new polygon mesh-type phantoms based on adult Japanese voxel phantoms

Abstract

To construct adult Japanese phantoms applicable to individual exposure dose assessments, we created adult Japanese polygon mesh-type male (JPM) and female (JPF) phantoms through modification of the adult Japanese voxel phantoms, JM-103 (male) and JF-103 (female). The body sizes and masses of organs, tissues, and organ contents in JPM and JPF were adjusted to the Japanese averages, except for those unimportant for radiation protection or risks. The JPM and JPF data were converted to tetrahedral mesh-type data and incorporated into the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) for dose calculations. The dosimetric characteristics of the JPM and JPF phantoms were validated by calculating their effective doses in the anterior–posterior geometry for the external irradiation of photons with energies of 0.01–20 MeV and compared with those of JM-103 and JF-103 or the reference values given in ICRP Publication 116. The results confirmed no problems applying JPM and JPF to dose assessments in adult Japanese subjects. Furthermore, it was found that JPM and JPF can also accurately calculate the absorbed doses for entire organs and high radiosensitive cell regions with thin, small, and complicated structures.