Geant4 Simulation of Gamma-Ray Transmission Buildup Factors for Human Tissues

Abstract

Quantification of scattered photons in addition to unscattered primary particles, under realistic exposure scenario, is best dealt with a parameter called “Buildup factor”. The aim of this work is to simulate the transmission buildup factor (BUF) of gamma-ray in the energy range .15–15 MeV for 20 human tissues and organs using the Geant4 (version 10.5) Monte Carlo simulation followed by a geometrical progression (GP) parameterization procedure. Firstly, we verified the accuracy of Geant4 ability to predict the effective transmitted dose according to published data. Also, a comparison of simulated BUF for different geometrical configurations was carried out for some tissues and source energies. Then, we checked out the linear dependency of the K parameter (BUF is function of K) function of mean free path (mfp). Finally, we developed a fitting procedure according to GP method for BUF corresponding to 20 tissues and organs and different mfp (from 1 to 8) for energy range .15–15 MeV. We found a good agreement with previous published data. Proper comprehension of BUF for tissues leads to carefully controlling the energy absorption in the human body. Consequently, provided BUF could be of great interest for estimating safe dose levels in medical imaging and radiation therapy.