Monte Carlo in Internal Dosimetry

In internal dosimetry, the Monte Carlo technique is used for radiation transport to compute values of efficiency of monitoring systems and energy deposition in various organs followed by calculation of absorbed to effective doses. This technique has been used for uncertainty analysis if the effects of multiple parameters such as inter/intra personal variations like biokinetics, dimensions, etc., on activity in the body or excretion must be studied. In this chapter, Sect. 1 gives a brief historical overview of the technique and its applications in several fields, and Sect. 2 deals with the basic mathematical framework for Monte Carlo methods. Section 3 describes radiation particle transport and various estimators used to determine dosimetric quantities. Section 4 deals with various codes used internationally for Monte Carlo simulation in internal dosimetry. Section 5 is on various mathematical phantoms used in internal dosimetry. Section 6 deals with the application of Monte Carlo in radiation protection of internal dosimetry. Section 7 describes various nuclear medical applications of Monte Carlo simulations. The last section summarizes this chapter.