Development of an Accommodation-Dependent Eye Model and Studying the Effects of Accommodation on Electron and Proton Dose Conversion Coefficients

Introduction International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has provided a comprehensive discussion on threshold dose for radiation-induced cataract in ICRP publication 116. Accordingly, various parts of the eye lens have different radio-sensitivities. Recently, some studies have been performed to develop a realistic eye model with the aim of providing accurate estimation of fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients for different parts of the eye. However, the effect of accommodation, which changes the lens shape and pupil size, on dose conversion coefficients has not been considered yet. In this study, we purport to develop an accommodation-dependent eye model and to study the effects of accommodation on the electron and proton fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients. Materials and Methods Herein, a modified eye model was developed by considering the effects of accommodation on the lens shape and pupil size. In addition, MCNPX 2.6 Monte Carlo transport code was used to calculate the effects of  eye lens accommodation on electron and proton fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients. Results Calculation of dose conversion coefficients demonstrated that the accommodation causes up to 40% discrepancy for fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients of electrons in the range of 600 to 800 keV, which is due to the change of eye lens shape during the accommodation of the eye. Conclusion Since the accommodation of the eye change the lens shape and pupil size, it has considerable effect on fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients of electrons at some ranges of incident particle energies that should be considered in simulation. However, the fluctuation of dose conversion coefficients of protons is negligible.