skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Alternatives to dose, quality factor and dose equivalent for low level irradiation

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6045562

Randomly occurring energy deposition events produced by low levels of ionizing radiation interacting with tissue deliver variable amounts of energy to the sensitive target volumes within a small fraction of the cell population. A model is described in which an experimentally derived function relating event size to cell response probability operates mathematically on the microdosimetric event size distribution characterizing a given irradiation and thus determines the total fractional number of responding cells; this fraction measures the effectiveness of the given radiation. Normalizing to equal numbers of events produced by different radiations and applying this cell response or hit size effectiveness function (HSEF) should define radiation quality, or relative effectiveness, on a more nearly absolute basis than do the absorbed dose and dose evaluation, which are confounded when applied to low level irradiations. Examples using both calculation and experimental data are presented. 15 refs., 18 figs.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
6045562
Report Number(s):
BNL-42416; CONF-8810306-2; ON: DE89010250; TRN: 89-014617
Resource Relation:
Conference: Workshop on recent advances in biological sciences, low dose and low dose rate ionizing radiation, San Diego, CA, USA, 18 Oct 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English