Monte Carlo calculations for efficiency calibration of a whole-body monitor using BOMAB phantoms of different sizes

Abstract

Internal contamination due to high-energy photon (HEP) emitters is assessed using a scanning bed whole-body monitor housed in a steel room at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The monitor consists of a (203 mm diameter × 102 mm thickness) NaI(Tl) detector and is calibrated using a Reference BOMAB phantom representative of an average Indian radiation worker. However, a series of different size physical phantoms are required to account for size variability in workers, which is both expensive and time consuming. Therefore, a theoretical approach based on Monte Carlo techniques has been employed to calibrate the system in scanning geometry with BOMAB phantoms of different sizes characterised by their weight (W) and height (H) for several radionuclides of interest ((131)I, (137)Cs, (60)Co and (40)K). A computer program developed for this purpose generates the detector response and the detection efficiencies (DEs) for the BARC Reference phantom (63 kg/168 cm), ICRP Reference male phantom (70 kg/170 cm) and several of its scaled versions. The results obtained for different size phantoms indicated a decreasing trend of DEs with the increase in W/H values of the phantoms. The computed DEs for uniform distribution of (137)Cs in BOMAB phantom varied from 3.52 × 10(-3) to 2.88 × 10(-3) counts per photon as the W/H values increased from 0.26 to 0.50. The theoretical results obtained for the BARC Reference phantom have been verified with experimental measurements. The Monte Carlo results from this study will be useful for in vivo assessment of HEP emitters in radiation workers of different physiques.