Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Division of Radiation Protection and Safety Control, Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
PLoS One. 2021 Sep 17;16(9):e0257638. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257638. eCollection 2021.
Some concepts in nuclear radiation physics are abstract and intellectually demanding. In the present paper, an "MCHP platform" (MCHP was an acronym for Monte Carlo simulations + Human Phantoms) was proposed to provide assistance to the students through visualization. The platform involved Monte Carlo simulations of interactions between ionizing radiations and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) adult male human phantom. As an example to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed MCHP platform, the present paper investigated the variation of the absorbed photon dose per photon from a 137Cs source in three selected organs, namely, brain, spine and thyroid of an adult male for concrete and lead shields with varying thicknesses. The results were interesting but not readily comprehensible without direct visualization. Graphical visualization snapshots as well as video clips of real time interactions between the photons and the human phantom were presented for the involved cases, and the results were explained with the help of such snapshots and video clips. It is envisaged that, if the platform is found useful and effective by the readers, the readers can also propose examples to be gradually added onto this platform in future, with the ultimate goal of enhancing students' understanding and learning the concepts in an undergraduate nuclear radiation physics course or a related course.
一些核辐射物理概念是抽象的，需要较高的智力。在本文中，提出了一个“MCHP 平台”（MCHP 是蒙特卡罗模拟和人体模型的缩写），通过可视化来帮助学生。该平台涉及到蒙特卡罗模拟电离辐射与橡树岭国家实验室（ORNL）成年男性人体模型之间的相互作用。作为一个例子来说明所提出的 MCHP 平台的好处，本文研究了 137Cs 源在三个选定器官（大脑、脊柱和甲状腺）中每光子吸收光子剂量的变化，具体为混凝土和铅屏蔽的不同厚度。如果没有直接的可视化，结果很有趣，但不容易理解。对于所涉及的情况，展示了图形可视化快照以及光子与人体模型实时相互作用的视频剪辑，并借助这些快照和视频剪辑解释了结果。预计如果读者认为该平台有用且有效，他们也可以在未来逐步向该平台提出示例，最终目标是增强学生对本科核辐射物理课程或相关课程中概念的理解和学习。
