ICRP Publication 110

Adult Reference Computational Phantoms

Prepared jointly with ICRU
Recommended citation
ICRP, 2009. Adult Reference Computational Phantoms. ICRP Publication 110. Ann. ICRP 39 (2).

Abstract - This report describes the development and intended use of the computational phantoms of the Reference Male and Reference Female. In its 2007 Recommendations, ICRP adopted these computational phantoms for forthcoming updates of organ dose coefficients for both internal and external radiation sources (ICRP, 2007). The phantoms are based on medical image data of real people, yet are consistent with the data given in Publication 89 (ICRP, 2002) on the reference anatomical and physiological parameters for both male and female subjects. The reference phantoms are constructed after modifying the voxel models (Golem and Laura) of two individuals whose body height and mass resembled the reference data. The organ masses of both models were adjusted to the ICRP data on the adult Reference Male and Reference Female, without compromising their anatomic realism. This report describes the methods used for this process and the characteristics of the resulting computational phantoms.

Chapter 1 summarises the main reasons for constructing these phantoms – voxel phantoms being the state of the art, and the necessity for compliance with the anatomical characteristics of the Reference Male and Reference Female given in Publication 89 (ICRP, 2002). Chapter 2 summarises the specifications of the computational phantoms with respect to external dimensions and the source and target regions that are required. Chapter 3 characterises the previously segmented voxel models (Golem and Laura) that are the origins of the reference phantoms. Chapter 4 sketches the modifications that had to be applied to these models to create voxel models of the Reference Male and Reference Female. Chapter 5 is a description of the resulting reference computational phantoms of the Reference Male and Reference Female. Finally, Chapter 6 indicates their applications and highlights their limitations.

The phantoms’ technical descriptions are contained in Annexes A–H, which represent the larger part of this report. The numerical data representing the phantoms are contained on an electronic data storage medium (CD-ROM) that accompanies the printed publication. One of the aims of this report is to assist those who wish to implement the phantoms for their own calculations.

Furthermore, to illustrate the uses of these phantoms, graphical illustrations of conversion coefficients for some external and internal exposures are included in Annexes I–L.

A comprehensive set of recommended values will be published in separate reports. Finally, Annex M presents a description of the data files on the CD-ROM.