Absorbed dose estimations of 131I for critical organs using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation code

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the absorbed doses of critical organs of 131I using the MIRD (Medical Internal Radiation Dose) with the corresponding predictions made by GEANT4 simulations. S-values (mean absorbed dose rate per unit activity) and energy deposition per decay for critical organs of 131I for various ages, using standard cylindrical phantom comprising water and ICRP soft-tissue material, have also been estimated. In this study the effect of volume reduction of thyroid, during radiation therapy, on the calculation of absorbed dose is also being estimated using GEANT4. Photon specific energy deposition in the other organs of the neck, due to 131I decay in the thyroid organ, has also been estimated. The maximum relative difference of MIRD with the GEANT4 simulated results is 5.64% for an adult's critical organs of 131I. Excellent agreement was found between the results of water and ICRP soft tissue using the cylindrical model. S-values are tabulated for critical organs of 131I, using 1, 5, 10, 15 and 18 years (adults) individuals. S-values for a cylindrical thyroid of different sizes, having 3.07% relative differences of GEANT4 with Siegel & Stabin results. Comparison of the experimentally measured values at 0.5 and 1 m away from neck of the ionization chamber with GEANT4 based Monte Carlo simulations results show good agreement. This study shows that GEANT4 code is an important tool for the internal dosimetry calculations.