Conversion coefficients for effective dose calculated using anthropomorphic mesh reference phantoms with the FLUKA code

Abstract The mesh reference computational phantoms from International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 145 have been implemented for the first time in the FLUKA Monte Carlo code. Conversion coefficients from particle fluence to effective dose E have been calculated with these mesh phantoms for an extended set of particles and energies, covering all relevant exposure scenarios, including those at high-energy accelerator facilities. The conversion coefficients were calculated for theoretical exposure conditions in the form of broad monoenergetic particle beams for the six irradiation geometries anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, right-lateral, left-lateral, rotational, and isotropic. The results are compared to those calculated with voxel phantoms from ICRP Publication 116 and with results recently computed with the Geant4 Monte Carlo code and the mesh phantoms for a smaller set of particles and energies. This work shows that the FLUKA code is capable of reliably calculating effective dose for a wide range of particles and energies with the most recent mesh phantoms of the ICRP. FLUKA is well suited to be used for effective dose calculations for the next general recommendations of the ICRP, expected for the early 2030s, in which mesh phantoms will supersede voxel phantoms.