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Theory of RBE. Progress report, 1 January 1976--31 December 1976

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7137385· OSTI ID:7137385

Experimental studies of emulsion-processing combinations have demonstrated that a range of hittedness, from 1 to 8-or-more, can be achieved with specially processed nuclear research emulsions of the Ilford K series, encompassing the range of supralinear response displayed by biological cells. In analogy with the response of biological cells to high LET radiations, the processes of ion-kill and gamma-kill have been displayed for these emulsions, in that x-rays blacken emulsion in circumstances that single alpha-particles, or even single fission fragments, leave no visible track. Track structure theory and the theory of RBE have been extended to these multi-hit detectors. Supralinearity in thermoluminescent dosimeters has been tentatively identified as due to a population of 2-or-more hit trapping sites, coexisting with the linear 1-or-more hit sites. Inferences from this identification that the response to high-LET radiations is linear and that 2-hit sites must display an RBE greater than 1 are consistent with some experimental observations. This is a second solid state detector having the capacity to mimic the response of biological systems identified from the theory of RBE.

Research Organization:
Nebraska Univ., Lincoln (USA)
OSTI ID:
7137385
Report Number(s):
COO-1671-71
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English