Abstract
A Monte Carlo simulation program is constructed in order to trace the histories of photon interactions inside fat and blood under tissue-characterization conditions (energies from 7 to 60 keV and samples from 0.5 to 20 cm). The effect of incident photon energy on the number of coherent and incoherent interactions up to the 3rd order scattering is studied for three different sample sizes. The ratio of scattering to total interactions (including photoelectric absorption) is also studied for fat and blood under the same scattering conditions. Results show considerable differences in the scattering properties of fat and blood over a wide range of energies. This may explain the experimental differences reported by Evans et al. and Kosanetzky et al. The percentage of photons making three incoherent interactions recorded a maximum of 10% which implies the need to correct for multiple scattering in incoherent scattering measurements intended for tissue characterization.