Experimental validation of Monte-Carlo calculations with a voxelised Rando-Alderson phantom: a study on influence parameters

The development and improvement of techniques for an accurate dose assessment in medical physics is an important task. In this study, we focus on the validation of Monte Carlo calculations, by comparing organ doses assessed experimentally with thermoluminescent detectors in the Rando–Alderson phantom with doses calculated for a voxelized model of the same phantom for some typical x-ray procedures. A detailed study has been performed to identify the key parameters that affect the determination of organ doses. Initially, TLD measurements were up to 65% higher than the calculated values. After the corrections made on TLD energy dependence, TLD angular dependence, material composition and field size and position, most differences between measurements and calculations are within 15%. For organs far away from the field the difference is about 30%.