Dosimetric dependence of ocular structures on eye size and shape for external radiation fields of electrons, photons, and neutrons

The dosimetric dependence of ocular structures on eye size and shape was investigated within the standard ICRP Publication 116 irradiation geometries. A realistic transport geometry was constructed by inserting a scalable and deformable stylised eye model developed in our previous study within the head of the ICRP Publication 110 adult male reference computational phantom. Beam irradiations of external electrons, photons, and neutrons on this phantom were simulated using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code PHITS in the geometries of AP, RLAT, PA and ROT. Absorbed doses in ocular structures such as ciliary body, retina, and optic nerves were computed as well as that in lens. A clear dosimetric dependence of ocular structures on eye size and shape was observed for external electrons while only a small dependence was seen for external photons and neutrons. Difference of the tendency was attributed to their depth-dose distributions where spread dose distributions were created by photons and neutrons while more concentrated distributions were created by external electrons. (paper)