This work describes the development of a new set of Paediatric Head Computational Phantoms (PHCPs), representing patients with 5, 10 and 15 years old. for brain radiotherapy simulations built using polygonal mesh modelling in Blender, a 3D modelling software. The PHCPs includes the main organs at risk (OAR) in brain radiotherapy, such as the brain, brainstem, optic nerve, retina, lacrimal glands, cochlea and optic chiasm. The organ and structure modelling were adjusted so that the mass difference in the modelled organs was less than 5% when compared to the standards presented in ICRP 23, 89 and 156. The TOPAS Monte Carlo transport code was used to compare the absorbed dose from monoenergetic beams using the 5, 10 and 15 years-old PHCP and Mesh-type Reference Computational Phantom (MRCP), from the ICRP 156. The simulation results showed good agreement with the expected values, indicating the reliability of the models. Therefore, the computational phantom developed in this work is suitable for computational simulations of brain radiotherapy. • A novel paediatric head computational phantom (PHCP) was developed including detailed brain and head OARs. • Monte Carlo simulations were performed to evaluate dose deposition in whole-brain radiotherapy scenarios. • Dose distributions and dose–volume histograms demonstrated realistic and clinically consistent results. • The PHCP shows strong potential for treatment planning validation and pediatric radiotherapy dosimetry studies.
Cruz et al. (2026) studied this question.