Advanced Radiation Protection Dosimetry

Although many radiation protection scientists and engineers use dose coefficients, few know the origin of those dose coefficients. This is the first book in over 40 years to address the topic of radiation protection dosimetry in intimate detail. Advanced Radiation Protection Dosimetry covers all methods used in radiation protection dosimetry, including advanced external and internal radiation dosimetry concepts and regulatory applications. This book is an ideal reference for both scientists and practitioners in radiation protection and students in graduate health physics and medical physics courses. Features: A much-needed book filling a gap in the market in a rapidly expanding area Contains the history, evolution, and the most up-to-date computational dosimetry models Authored and edited by internationally recognized authorities and subject area specialists Interrogates both the origins and methodologies of dose coefficient calculation Incorporates the latest international guidance for radiation dosimetry and protection

This is the first attempt in over 40 years to address the topic of radiation protection dosimetry in intimate detail. Although many radiation protection scientists and engineers use dose coefficients computed from the methodologies presented, few know the origin of those dose coefficients. The book covers all methods used in radiation protection dosimetry and will be of benefit to the radiation protection community and to graduate radiation protection programs. The book is intended for use by senior radiation protection scientists and in graduate health physics and medical physics courses. Topics include advanced external and internal radiation dosimetry concepts and regulatory applications.

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of all relevant topics in the field of radiation protection (health physics). The text is organized to introduce the reader to basic principles of radiation emission and propagation, to review current knowledge and historical aspects of the biological effects of radiation, and to cover important operational topics such as radiation shielding and dosimetry. The author’s website contains materials for instructors including PowerPoint slides for lectures and worked-out solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. The book serves as an essential handbook for practicing health physics professionals.

This comprehensive volume is indispensable to engineers and scientists working in dosimetry to protect the health and safety of radiation workers and the general public. Ranging from basic theory to advance concepts, this complete reference covers the physics of radiation, the biological effects of radiation, and the technology of radiation sensing and measurement.

One essential characteristic of life is the exchange of matter and energy between organisms and their environment. Radiation is a form of energy that has always been around in nature and will forever be the companion of human beings throughout life. In order to assess the impact of radiation exposures properly, it is essential to introduce appropriate quantities and units which can then be used for quantification of exposures from various sources. In principle, radiation protection is mainly aimed at controlling radiation exposure, while radiation dosimetry deals primarily with the measurement of relevant radiation quantities especially doses. This book is divided into two parts. The first contains up-to-date definitions of the most significant radiation quantities including their interpretation. In the second part, the exposures of both individuals and population at large to various types of natural and man-made sources are compared and discussed. The concept of quantities and units as well as analysis of exposure due to various sources in our environment is based on the latest, highly regarded authentic sources such as ICRU, ICRP, IAEA and particularly UNSCEAR reports and recommendations. The material reflects the latest review of the current terminology in radiation protection dosimetry and the contemporary assessment of radiation exposures of the population, radiation workers and patients.

Complexities of the requirements for accurate radiation dosimetry evaluation in both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine (including PET) have grown over the past decade. This is due primarily to four factors: Growing consideration of accurate patient-specific treatment planning for radionuclide therapy as a means of improving the therapeutic benefit, development of more realistic anthropomorphic phantoms and their use in estimating radiation transport and dosimetry in patients, Design and use of advanced Monte Carlo algorithms in calculating the above-mentioned radiation transport and dosimetry which require the user to have a thorough understanding of the theoretical principles used in such algorithms, their appropriateness and their limitations, increasing regulatory scrutiny of the radiation dose burden borne by nuclear medicine patients in the clinic and in the development of new radiopharmaceuticals, thus requiring more accurate and robust dosimetry evaluations. An element common to all four factors is the need for precise radiation dosimetry in nuclear medicine, which is fundamental to the therapeutic success of a patient undergoing radionuclide therapy and to the safety of the patients undergoing diagnostic nuclear medicine and PET procedures. As the complexity of internal radiation dosimetry applied to diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine increases, this book will provide the theoretical foundations for: enabling the practising nuclear medicine physicist to understand the dosimetry calculations being used and their limitations, allowing the research nuclear medicine physicist to critically examine the internal radiation dosimetry algorithms available and under development; and providing the developers of Monte Carlo codes for the transport of radiation resulting from internal radioactive sources with the only comprehensive and definitive.