Neutron Kerma factor, and water equivalence of some tissue substitutes

Abstract

The kerma factors and kerma relative to air and water of 24 compounds used as tissue substitutes were calculated for neutron energy from 2.53x10-8 up to 29 MeV. The kerma ratio of the tissue substitutes relative to air and water were calculated by the ratio of kerma factors of the tissue substitute to air and water respectively. The water equivalence of the selected tissue substitutes was observed above neutron energies 100 eV. Kerma ratio relative to the air for Poly-vinylidene fluoride and Teflon are found to be nearest to unity in very low energy (up to 1 eV) and above 63 eV respectively. It was found that the natural rubber as a water equivalent tissue substitute compound. The results of the kerma factors in our investigation shows a very good agreement with those published in ICRU-44. We found that at higher neutron energies, the kerma factors and kerma ratios of the selected tissue substitute compounds are approximately same, but differences are large for energies below 100 eV.