Application of Generalized Fokker-Planck Theory To Electron And Photon Transport In Tissue

TL;DR

This paper introduces a deterministic approach using Generalized Fokker-Planck theory to improve particle transport modeling in tissue, with applications in medical physics such as electron dose calculation and light transmittance analysis.

Contribution

It develops and compares GFP-based numerical methods for tissue transport problems, enhancing accuracy over traditional Fokker-Planck models in medical applications.

Findings

GFP provides more accurate electron dose calculations in heterogeneous tissue.

GFP solutions align well with Monte Carlo and discrete-ordinate methods.

The approach effectively models light reflectance and transmittance in tissue.

Abstract

We study a deterministic method for particle transport in tissue in selected medical applications. Generalized Fokker-Planck (GFP) theory has been developed to improve the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation in cases where scattering is forward-peaked and where there is a sufficient amount of large-angle scattering. We compare grid-based numerical solutions to Fokker-Planck and Generalized Fokker-Planck (GFP) in realistic applications. Electron dose calculations in heterogeneous parts of the human body are performed. Accurate electron scattering cross sections are therefore included and their incorporation in our model is extensively described. Moreover, we solve GFP approximations of the radiative transport equation to investigate reflectance and transmittance of light in tissue. All results are compared with either Monte Carlo or discrete-ordinates transport solutions.