Estimation of the radiation field homogeneity in 60Co blood irradiator

• We estimate homogeneity of the energy deposition in the blood/water phantom.
• Increasing number of sources increase quality of sample irradiation.
• We propose configuration of 60Co sources for construction of a blood irradiator.
• Other technical improvement of a blood irradiator is proposed.

The aim of this work is to estimate the homogeneity of the radiation field in various configurations and relative activities of the “disposed” but still relatively highly active (approximately thousands of Curies, i.e. tens of TBq) sources for their potential use in irradiation of blood (or blood derivatives). Small dose rate, which is already unusable/inappropriate for the teletherapy, may be still utilized by simultaneous use of multiple sources or reducing the distance to the irradiated object (blood unit). To estimate the homogeneity of the radiation field a modeling approach has been chosen in which Monte Carlo code MCNP has been employed. (In-) homogeneity of the radiation field has been estimated on the basis of isodoses in the water phantom and for various configurations and relative activities of the 60Co sources. The results of simulations are also discussed with regard to further optimization (homogeneity of the sample irradiation, costs, radiation protection of service staff, availability of a sufficient number of resources, etc.).