Theoretical Study of Energy Loss of Proton in Human Tissues

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretical study was carried out to calculate the proton energy loss in human tissues (Adipose tissue, Blood, Bone (Compact), Bone (Cortical), Brain, Eye lens, Lung, Skin, and Testicles) within the energy range of 1 MeV to 1000 MeV. We calculated the total stopping power for each tissue element separately using the Bethe-Bloch equation, and then used Bragg's rule for compounds to determine the tissue's total stopping power. The total stopping power is directly proportional to the atomic number divided by the target material's atomic mass (Z/A) and target material density (ρ), and inversely proportional to the target material's mean excitation energy (I) and proton energy (E). The results indicate that the stopping power was highest in the adipose tissue, and the lowest value was in the bone (cortical) at the same proton energy. We performed all calculations using the MATLAB program. We found a good match between the obtained results and the value of the P-Star code.

Keywords

• Total stopping power of protons
• Proton energy loss
• Human tissue
• Bethe-Bloch equation
• Bragg’s rule
• P-Star