Photon and electron absorbed fractions calculated from a new tomographic rat model

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a tomographic model of a rat developed using CT images of an adult male Wistar rat for radiation transport studies. It also presents calculations of absorbed fractions (AFs) under internal photon and electron sources using this rat model and the Monte Carlo code MCNP. All data related to the developed phantom were made available for the scientific community as well as the MCNP inputs prepared for AF calculations in that phantom and also all estimated AF values, which could be used to obtain absorbed dose estimates--following the MIRD methodology--in rats similar in size to the presently developed model. Comparison between the rat model developed in this study and that published by Stabin et al (2006 J. Nucl. Med. 47 655) for a 248 g Sprague-Dawley rat, as well as between the estimated AF values for both models, has been presented.