Study of distribution dose for chest radiography using the computational model ALDERSON/EGSnrc

Numerical dosimetry uses Computational Exposure Models (MCE) to perform dose studies in situations of radiation exposure without the need for individuals to be exposed. MCEs are essentially composed of a simulator of the radioactive source, a Monte Carlo code, and a phantom of voxels representing the human anatomy. The objective of this work was to perform a study of the dose distribution in the thoracic region in radiographic exams using the MCE ALDERSON / EGSnrc. For that, virtual simulations were performed using Monte Carlo Method techniques to calculate the dose in the simulator of voxels representative of the thoracic region. The results show that most beam energy was deposited in the skeleton for all simulated radiological techniques, while smaller fractions were deposited in the lungs and soft tissue. For example, at 90 kV voltage, 14% of the energy was deposited in the bone medium, while lungs and soft tissue receive only 5 and 3%, respectively. It is concluded that the ALDERSON / EGSnrc MCE can be used for studies of the dose distribution on chest radiographs used in radiodiagnosis practice, thus optimizing dose absorbed in the patient in clinical exams