A Monte-Carlo approach to the microdosimetry of 224Ra in murine compact and cancellous bone.

Overview

A method is described which allows dose calculations to be made to individual target cells in different regions of mouse bone marrow exposed to alpha particles emitted from bone. The method takes into account the variable rate of transfer of energy along the tracks of alpha particles and was applied to experiment-based values calculated for the concentration of 224Ra on bone surfaces after an injection of a leukemogenic amount of the nuclide. These calculations show a minimum dose of 11 Gy in small (less than 50-micron) marrow spaces and 10 Gy close to bone surface in the shaft of the femur. The results suggest that leukemogenic doses are likely to occur at some distance from bone surfaces in wide marrow spaces and that osteosarcoma is not likely to be induced directly in cells immediately aligning bone surfaces.