Abstract
Purpose: To calculate absorbed fractions for mono-energetic photons and electrons in tumors of varying compositions using Monte Carlo simulations in MCNPX. Although tumor dosimetry has been previously investigated, these studies are very limited as they only consider absorbed fractions for soft-tissue tumors. Methods: The tumors were modeled as spheres with radii ranging from 0.10 cm to 6.0 cm and with compositions varying from 100% soft tissue to 100% bone. The energies of both the photons and electrons were varied from 10 keV to 10 MeV and were homogenously distributed throughout the tumor volume. Furthermore, this investigation addresses the issue of spherical versus elliptical tumors. Both prolate and oblate spheroid tumors of different compositions were modeled, and absorbed fractions were calculated for various electron and photon energies. Results: The data clearly shows an absorbed fraction dependence on tumor composition. For example, a soft-tissue model for a 3 MeV electron emitted in a 1 cm diameter bone tumor would have an 83% error, and this same assumption for a 500 keV photon would yield a 74% error. Ultimately, empirical fits were created for each of the five material compositions in order to facilitate the absorbed fraction calculation, requiring only the tumor sizemore » and particle energy. Furthermore, the data shows that absorbed fractions for moderate spheroids can be well approximated by spherical tumors of equal mass to within 8%, but in the extreme cases where the spheroid resembles more of a disk, the errors can be as high as 30%. Conclusion: This comprehensive data set is most valuable for nuclear medicine dosimetry because it incorporates particle type, particle energy, tumor size, and tumor composition. Although mono-energetic particles were modeled, absorbed fractions and S-values may be calculated for any radionuclide via linear interpolation, as long as the particle energies or spectra are known.« less
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