Radiation Units

Introduction to
Radiation Units
Introduction
Wilhen C. Roentgen announced the discovery
of X-ray in December 1895. In the month that
followed, experimentation with wonder ray
results acute biological damage to some
patients and radiation workers. Cases of
somatic damage (biological damage to the
body of the exposed individual), were caused
by exposure to ionizing radiation.
Introduction
By increasing number of radiation injury
British X-ray and radium protection was
formed in 1921 to eliminate the chronic of
occupational exposure
The unit in use at that time skin erythema dose,
defined as the received quantity of radiation that
causes different redness over an area of skin after
irradiation
Physical units
1- Radioactivity Units
• Quantity of radioactive material is
expressed as the number of nuclear
transformations (or disintegrations) that
occur in a sample per unit time.
• The term for quantity of radioactive
material is activity.
Physical units
1- Radioactivity Units
• International Unit (SI Unit)
– Becquerel (Bq)
Bq) is the SI derived unit of radioactivity. One Becquerel
is defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive
material in which one nucleus decays per second
• U.S. Unit One curie is approximately the activity
of 1 gram of radium
– curie (Ci) = 3.7x1010 decays per second (Bq)
– 1 Ci = 37 GBq
– 1 mCi = 37 MBq
– 1 µCi = 37 kBq
2-Radiation Exposure Units
International Commission on Radiation Unit and
measurement (ICRU) was formed to define a unit of
exposure
Exposure is an index of the ability of a radiation field to
ionize air.
•Exposure is defined as the amount of ionization caused in
air by X or gamma radiation and can be measure by the
free – air ionization chamber
2-Radiation Exposure Units
• International Unit
– coulomb per kilogram (C/kg)
• U.S. Unit
– Roentgen (R)
defined only for measurement in air.
• applies only to x and gamma rays. It does not relate the
amount of exposure to biological effects of radiation in the
human body.
–1 R = 2.58 x 10-4 C/kg
–1 mR = 0.258 C/kg
–1 µR = 258 C/kg
3-Biological Units
Rad (Radiation Absorbed Dose)
• The rad is a unit for measuring absorbed dose in any
material.
• Absorbed dose results from energy being deposited by
the radiation.
• It is defined for any material.
• It applies to all types of radiation.
• It does not take into account the potential effect that
different types of radiation have on the body.
• Therefore, it can be used as a measure of energy
absorbed by the body, but not as a measure of the
relative biological effect (harm or risk) to the body
Radiation Absorbed Dose Units
• International Unit (SI)
–gray (Gy)
• U.S. Unit
–rad
–1 rad = 0.01 Gy
–1 mrad = 0.01 mGy
–1 µrad = 0.01 µGy
• The radiation absorbed dose is important for

describing radiation effects. The absorbed dose
relates to how much radiation energy gets put into a
given target mass (e.g., lung, eye, thyroid gland).
• The absorbed dose has units of energy divided by
mass (e.g., ergs per gram or joules per kilogram
• The amount energy absorbed differ from
anatomical structure to other depends on the
atomic number (Z) of the tissue composing the
structure
• Different absorbed doses can arise in different
organs or tissue of the body for the same
exposure in R.
• Thus, if a person were exposed to 10 R of
gamma rays, the eye, the thyroid, and the lung
would have different absorbed doses. Special
computer programs can calculate such doses.
• Units of absorbed dose often used are the rad
and gray (an SI unit).
• The gray unit represents 1 joule of radiation

energy put into a kilogram mass. Thus, 1 gray
equals 1 joule per kilogram.
• The gray and rad apply to all types of ionizing
radiation, unlike the roentgen unit, which only
applies to x-rays and gamma rays.
Radiation Effective Dose Units
• International Unit
– Sievert (Sv)
• U.S. Unit
– rem
–1 rem = 0.01 Sv
–1 mrem = 0.01 mSv
–1 µrem = 0.01 µSv
Radiation Effective Dose Units
• Effective dose is used to represent “how
good” the absorbed dose of radiation might
be at producing an effect – so it accounts for
the effectiveness or quality of the radiation.
• Effective dose also includes a factor
representing the sensitivity of the tissue to
the radiation – so it also accounts for how the
tissue might react.
Equivalent Dose
For the same absorbed dose (deposited energy) in
tissue, different forms of ionizing radiation can
have different biological effects.
The equivalent dose (HT) is used to compare the
biologic effects of different types ofradiation on a
tissue or organ.
• “Equivalent Dose” attempts to normalize
these differences.
Equivalent Dose
• Equivalent Dose is the product of the
dose and a modifying factor called
the quality factor (QF), which reflects
the relative biological effectiveness
of the radiation:
HT = D x QF
Quality Factors (QF)
The factor by which the absorbed dose (rad

or gray) must be multiplied to obtain a
quantity that expresses the biological damage
(rem or Sievert) to the exposed tissue
Some Values of QF
Effective Dose Equivalent
The effective dose (E) is used to estimate the risk in
humans.
Effective Dose Equivalent (EDE) is intended to reflect the
total biological effect of a given exposure on a human.
It is a weighted average of the individual
doses to a number of important tissues:
Effective Dose Equivalent
Effective Dose Equivalent (EDE) is a derived

quantity, not a measurable quantity.
• Applies to situation where irradiation of organs and
tissues is non-uniform.
• EDE yields the same “radiation detriment” as a
numerically-equivalent whole-body dose.
• WT values are assigned by a committee.

Radiation Units

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Radiation Units

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Radiation Units

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction to

• The radiation absorbed dose is important for

• The gray unit represents 1 joule of radiation

The factor by which the absorbed dose (rad

Effective Dose Equivalent (EDE) is a derived

You might also like