• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제49권7호
• /
• pp.1495-1504
• /
• 2017

In a previous study, a set of polygon-mesh (PM)-based skin models including a $50-{\mu}m-thick$ radiosensitive target layer were constructed and used to calculate skin dose coefficients (DCs) for idealized external beams of electrons. The results showed that the calculated skin DCs were significantly different from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 116 skin DCs calculated using voxel-type ICRP reference phantoms that do not include the thin target layer. The difference was as large as 7,700 times for electron energies less than 1 MeV, which raises a significant issue that should be addressed subsequently. In the present study, therefore, as an extension of the initial, previous study, skin DCs for three other particles (photons, protons, and helium ions) were calculated by using the PM-based skin models and the calculated values were compared with the ICRP-116 skin DCs. The analysis of our results showed that for the photon exposures, the calculated values were generally in good agreement with the ICRP-116 values. For the charged particles, by contrast, there was a significant difference between the PM-model-calculated skin DCs and the ICRP-116 values. Specifically, the ICRP-116 skin DCs were smaller than those calculated by the PM models-which is to say that they were under-estimated-by up to ~16 times for both protons and helium ions. These differences in skin dose also significantly affected the calculation of the effective dose (E) values, which is reasonable, considering that the skin dose is the major factor determining effective dose calculation for charged particles. The results of the current study generally show that the ICRP-116 DCs for skin dose and effective dose are not reliable for charged particles.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제56권7호
• /
• pp.2732-2739
• /
• 2024

This study developed internal dose coefficients for radioiodine, tailored to the Korean population, by incorporating the Korean biokinetic model along with the Korean S values. The observed differences in dose coefficients for Koreans compared to the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) reference values noticeably varied depending on physical half-lives of iodine isotopes. For longer-lived isotopes such as I-125 and I-129, significant differences in thyroid dose coefficients were observed, with ratios (Korean/ICRP) from 0.30 to 0.55, indicating that actual doses for Koreans can be considerably lower than those evaluated based on the ICRP data. However, for short-lived iodine isotopes, such as I-131, the thyroid dose coefficients were comparable to the ICRP reference values (ratio = 0.95-0.98). These comparable dose coefficients resulted from the lower thyroidal iodine uptake in the Korean model being almost entirely offset by the higher thyroid self-absorption S values in the Korean phantoms. Additionally, this study delves into the substantial differences in absorbed dose coefficients for non-thyroidal regions and effective dose coefficients, which arose not only from physiological/anatomical variability but also technical differences in phantom design. The use of Korean-specific dose coefficients is advisable particularly in scenarios predicting elevated doses, yielding a more precise and clinically relevant dose assessment.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제41권2호
• /
• pp.101-104
• /
• 2016

Background: To protect the public from natural radioactive materials, the 'Act on safety control of radioactive rays around living environment" was established in Korea. There is an annual effective dose limit of 1 mSv for products, but the activity concentration limit for products is not established yet. Materials and Methods: To suggest the activity concentration limits for consumer goods containing NORM, in this research, we assumed the "small room model" surrounding the ICRP reference phantom to simulate the consumer goods in contact with the human bodies. Using the Monte Carlo code MCNPX, we evaluate the effective dose rate for the ICRP reference phantom in a small room with dimension of phantom size and derived the activity concentration limit for consumer goods. Results and Discussion: The consumer goods have about 1600, 1200 and $19000Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ for $^{226}Ra$, $^{232}Th$ and $^{40}K$, and the activity concentration limits are about six times comparing with the values of building materials. We applied the index to real samples, though we did not consider radioactivity of $^{40}K$, indexes of the some samples are more than 6. However, this index concept using small room model is very conservative, for the consumer goods over than index 6, it is necessary to reevaluate the absorbed dose considering real usage scenario and material characteristics. Conclusion: In this research, we derived activity concentration limits for consumer goods in contact with bodies and the results can be used as preliminary screening tool for consumer goods as index concept.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제49권1호
• /
• pp.50-64
• /
• 2024

Background: The reference dose coefficients (DCs) of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) have been widely used to estimate organ doses of individuals for risk assessments. This approach has been well accepted because individual anatomy data are usually unavailable, although dosimetric uncertainty exists due to the anatomical difference between the reference phantoms and the individuals. We attempted to quantify the individual variation of organ doses for photon external exposures by calculating and comparing organ DCs for 30 individuals against the ICRP reference DCs. Materials and Methods: We acquired computed tomography images from 30 patients in which eight organs (brain, breasts, liver, lungs, skeleton, skin, stomach, and urinary bladder) were segmented using the ImageJ software to create voxel phantoms. The phantoms were implemented into the Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 (MCNP6) code and then irradiated by broad parallel photon beams (10 keV to 10 MeV) at four directions (antero-posterior, postero-anterior, left-lateral, right-lateral) to calculate organ DCs. Results and Discussion: There was significant variation in organ doses due to the difference in anatomy among the individuals, especially in the kilovoltage region (e.g., <100 keV). For example, the red bone marrow doses at 0.01 MeV varied from 3 to 7 orders of the magnitude depending on the irradiation geometry. In contrast, in the megavoltage region (1-10 MeV), the individual variation of the organ doses was found to be negligibly small (differences <10%). It was also interesting to observe that the organ doses of the ICRP reference phantoms showed good agreement with the mean values of the organ doses among the patients in many cases. Conclusion: The results of this study would be informative to improve insights in individual-specific dosimetry. It should be extended to further studies in terms of many different aspects (e.g., other particles such as neutrons, other exposures such as internal exposures, and a larger number of individuals/patients) in the future.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제39권4호
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 2014

국내에서는 2012년 천연방사성핵종이 포함된 가공제품의 규제를 위해 생활주변방사선 안전관리법이 시행되었지만, 해당 가공제품 사용에 대한 인체 피폭선량을 평가할 수 있는 기초자료나 피폭선량 평가기술이 미비하다. 따라서 본 연구는 사용자 피폭선량을 정량적으로 평가하기 위한 방법을 제안하고, 방사선의 종류 및 에너지에 따른 피폭선량 특성의 확인을 목적으로 한다. 피폭선량 평가를 위해서 몬테칼로 방법을 사용한 Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended (MCNPX) 코드를 통해 International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)의 기준팬텀이 전산모사 되었으며, 대표적 천연방사성핵종인 우라늄 계열에서 발생되는 알파선, 베타선, 감마선의 최소, 중간, 최대 에너지가 선원항으로 사용되었다. 연간 유효선량은 가공제품 사용시간 및 사용위치를 고려한 피폭시나리오를 기반으로 평가되었다. 짧은 비정의 알파선 및 베타선은 대부분의 선량을 피부에 전달한 반면, 감마선은 대부분의 장기에 유사한 선량을 전달하였다. 방사능이 $1Bq{\cdot}g^{-1}$ 인 돌침대에 포함된 천연방사성핵종의 함유율이 10%라고 가정하고 한국인 평균 수면시간인 7시간 50분간 돌침대를 사용하였을 때 최대 연간 유효선량은 알파선, 베타선, 감마선에 대해서 각각 0.0222, 0.0836, $0.0101mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$로 평가되었다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제40권3호
• /
• pp.124-131
• /
• 2015

원료물질 또는 공정부산물을 가공하거나 이를 원료로 하여 제조된 제품인 가공제품은 함유된 천연방사성핵종(우라늄, 토륨, 포타슘 등)으로부터 감마선 방출로 외부피폭을 유발할 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 방사성핵종 농도 우라늄 토륨 $1Bq{\cdot}g^{-1}$, 포타슘 $10Bq{\cdot}g^{-1}$을 가정하고 평형상태의 감마선방출을 가정하여 최종사용자의 사용환경을 반영하여 몬테칼로 전산모사로 복셀팬텀인 ICRP 기준팬텀과 ICRP 권고 103을 적용하여 가공제품의 연간피폭선량을 계산하고 체계를 개발하였다. 가공제품은 사용환경에 따라 피부비밀착형(석고보드, 음이온 벽지, 음이온 페인트)과 피부밀착형(팔찌, 목걸이, 벨트, 뜸질기)으로 구분하였고 기하학적 모델링은 일반가구가 거주하는 주택의 유형 분포추이와 설계지침을 반영하여 룸모델링($3m{\times}4m{\times}2.8m$ 보수적으로 밀폐된 방)과 복셀팬텀 분할면에 직접 가공제품을 모사하였다. 사용시간은 한국형 노출지수 개발 및 운영체계 구축 보고서를 참고하였으며 알 수 없는 제품은 보수적으로 24시간을 가정하였다. 본 연구에서 가공제품의 연간 유효선량은 0.00003 ~ 0.47636 mSv로 평가되었으며 벨트류 장기등가선량률을 확인하여 복셀팬텀에 가공제품을 직접 모사하는 것의 의미를 확인하였다.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.199-208
• /
• 2012

전신에 대해 방사선에 민감한 주요장기가 미리 정의된 인체 전산팬텀(compuational human phantom)은 의료분야에서 방사선 치료에 의한 이차암 위험도 평가 및 진단방사선에 의한 유효선량 평가 등에 유용하게 활용될 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 한국인 여성사체에 대한 고해상도 연속절단면 컬러해부영상을 이용하여 장기 및 조직을 전신에 걸쳐 약 2 mm 간격으로 정밀하게 분할하였고, 이를 이용하여 몬테칼로 전산모사에 사용될 수 있는 VHK-Woman 복셀팬텀을 개발하였다. VKH-Woman 복셀팬텀은 키 160 cm, 몸무게 52.72 kg으로 한국인 여성의 표준체형에 가까우며, 유효선량을 계산할 수 있도록 ICRP 103에 제시된 27개 장기 및 기타 관심장기 12개를 포함한다. VKH-Woman의 복셀 해상도는 $1.976{\times}1.976{\times}2.0619mm^3$이며 복셀행렬의 크기는 $261{\times}109{\times}825$이고, 몬테칼로 코드에 입력하여 사용될 수 있도록 이진파일과 ASCII 파일 형식으로 데이터화되었다.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
• /
• 제15권7호
• /
• pp.1041-1047
• /
• 2021

본 연구에서는 국가에서 제공하는 일반엑스선검사의 진단참고수준 중 다빈도 검사에 대한 유효선량을 몬테카를로 시뮬레이션을 이용하여 평가하고자 하였다. 일반엑스선검사의 진단참고수준에 대한 유효선량 평가는 가장 다빈도로 검사되는 두부 전후면(Anterior-Posterior; AP), 흉부 후전면(Posterior-Anterior; PA), 흉부 측면(Lateral; LAT), 복부 AP, 골반 AP 등 총 5개의 검사 부위로 선정하였다. 몬테카를로 시뮬레이션에 사용되는 관전압과 관전류 등의 물리적 조건은 국내 조건의 대표성을 나타내기 위해 질병관리청의 자료를 사용하였다. 국내 의료방사선 피폭량 평가를 위해 사용된 인체 전산 팬텀은 한국인의 표준 체형을 대표할 수 있고 국제규격의 ICRP 103 기반으로 제작된 HDRK-Man 전산 인체팬텀을 몬테카를로 시뮬레이션에 적용하였다. 그 결과, 성인 남성을 기준으로 두부 AP의 진단참고수준에 해당되는 유효선량은 0.086 mSv, 흉부 PA는 0.05 mSv, 흉부 LAT는 0.354 mSv, 복부 AP는 0.548 mSv, 골반 AP는 0.451 mSv로 평가되었다.

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국의학물리학회 2005년도 제30회 춘계학술대회
• /
• pp.25-27
• /
• 2005

체적소 인형 모의피폭체는 방사선 관련 분야에서 다양하게 사용되고 있으며 최근 의료영상기술과 컴퓨터의 급속한 발전으로 더 많은 각광을 받고 있다. 하지만 현재까지 개발된 체적소 인형 모의피폭체는 환자 등 실제 인체의 영상을 이용하여 제작되었기 때문에 ICRP Reference Man (2002) 등의 표준 자료에 크게 벗어난다. 본 연구에서는 표준 성인 남성의 체형과 골격을 가진 물리적 인형 모의피폭체(ATOM Adult Male Phantom, CIRS, Virginia, USA)에 MIRD형 수학적 인형 모델의 장기들을 정의하여 표준의 체형과 장기를 가진 하이브리드 체적소 인형 모의피폭체를 개발한 후 몬테칼로 전산모사에 사용하였다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제45권1호
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2020

Background: Recently, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) lowered the dose limit for the eye lens from 150 mSv to 20 mSv, highlighting the importance of accurate lens dose estimation. The ICRP reference computational phantoms used for lens dose calculation are mostly based on the data of Caucasian population, and thus might be inappropriate for Korean population. Materials and Methods: In the present study, a detailed Korean eye model was constructed by determining nine ocular dimensions using the data of Korean subjects. The developed eye model was then incorporated into the adult male and female mesh-type reference Korean phantoms (MRKPs), which were then used to calculate lens doses for photons and electrons in idealized irradiation geometries. The calculated lens doses were finally compared with those calculated with the ICRP mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCPs) to observe the effect of ethnic difference on lens dose. Results and Discussion: The lens doses calculated with the MRKPs and the MRCPs were not much different for photons for the entire energy range considered in the present study. For electrons, the differences were generally small, but exceptionally large differences were found at a specific energy range (0.5-1 MeV), the maximum differences being about 10 times at 0.6 MeV in the anteroposterior geometry; the differences are mainly due to the difference in the depth of the lens between the MRCPs and the MRKPs. Conclusion: The MRCPs are generally considered acceptable for lens dose calculations for Korean population, except for the electrons at the energy range of 0.5-1 MeV for which it is suggested to use the MRKPs incorporating the Korean eye model developed in the present study.