Biological risks of medical irradiations: Medical physics monograph 5

Book · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5657930

Waggener, R G; Webster, E W ^[1]

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1. eds.

This book is the fifth in a series of monographs by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and is a compendium of papers presented at an AAPM regional symposium conducted in San Antonio in July 1980. The book is divided into three sections: (1) biological fundamentals of ionizing radiation, (2) risk evaluation and reduction in three principle radiologic subspecialties (diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy), and (3) medical-legal implications. The first section includes a historical review of radiation biology, including a discussion of somatic and genetic effects and statistical approaches to risk estimates. The section on risk evaluation and reduction includes a good review of the units of exposure and activity including the international (SI) system employing the gray, becquerel, and seivert that respectively replace the rad, Curie, and rem. The unavoidable problem of legal responsibility and liability is the subject of the third, and last, section of the monograph. A chapter summarizing the legal history of medical irradiation also includes a glossary of pertinent legal terms. Recent court decisions that impact upon the clinical use of radiation are presented and discussed as well as proposed changes in federal guidelines that could have a large impact on the practice of medicine in general and radiology in particular. (JMT)

• OSTI ID: 5657930
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550601 -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics
550602 -- Medicine-- External Radiation in Diagnostics-- (1980-)
550603 -- Medicine-- External Radiation in Therapy-- (1980-)
550604 -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Therapy-- (1980-)
560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DOSES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
IRRADIATION
LEGAL ASPECTS
LOW DOSE IRRADIATION
MEDICINE
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
PATIENTS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIOLOGY
RADIOTHERAPY
RISK ASSESSMENT
THERAPY