In the dosimetry of ionizing radiation, the phantoms of the human body, which are used as a replacement for the human body in physical measurements and calculations, play an important, but sometimes underestimated, role. There are physical phantoms used directly for measurements, and mathematical phantoms for computational dosimetry. Their complexity varies from simple geometry applied for calibration purposes up to very complex, which simulates in detail the shapes of organs and tissues of the human body. The use of physical anthropomorphic phantoms makes it possible to effectively optimize radiation doses by adjusting the parameters of CT-scanning (computed tomography) in accordance with the characteristics of the patient without compromising image quality. The use of phantoms is an indispensable approach to estimate the actual doses to the organs or to determine the effective dose of workers – values that are regulated, but cannot be directly measured. The article contains an overview of types, designs and the fields of application of anthropomorphic heterogeneous physical phantoms of a human with special emphasis on their use for validation of models and methods of computational dosimetry. Key words: dose, ionizing radiation, physical, mathematical phantoms, computational dosimetry.
Vertical off-centering affects organ dose in chest CT: Evidence from Monte Carlo simulations in anthropomorphic phantoms
