Radiation Dosimetry
(An Introduction to Radiation Physics)
Naslinda Noor Rizan, MSc Medical Physicist Gleneagles Penang
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Structure of the Atom (Bohr
Model) Orbiting electron e (- ve) Only allowed certain discrete energy. define shells or energy levels
Nucleus contains protons (+ve) and neutrons (no charge) Nucleus contains protons (+ve) and neutrons(no charge)
P +N = A (mass no)
No of protons =Z (atomic no) K, L, M, N…..etc Max e- shell formula : 2n2
Nomenclature: A Z
X
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Physics of the Very Small (is Very Strange) Leptons
(build electrons)
1. e- & e- neutrino 2. muon & muon neutrino 3. tau & tau neutrino
Standard Model of Matter Particles (building blocks of atoms)
Quarks (build protons, neutron...etc)
1. Up & down 2. Charm & strange 3. Top & bottom Boson (carrier of the fundamental forces in the universe)
1. 2. 3. 4.
Gluon (strong force) Photon (electromagnetic force) Z & W (weak force) Graviton (cause gravity)
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Nuclide & Energy General term for atoms with specific number protons and neutrons. (atom = nuclide + e -) Isotope = nuclide with same Z (e.g 1H1, 1H2, 1H3 ) Isotone = nuclide with same neutrons (N) Isomer - nuclide with same A
Potential energy increases (from inner to outer valence)
Isobar - nuclide with same A& Z but different energy state.
Binding energy increases (from outer to inner shell) Amount of energy needed to remove electron from it’s orbit
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Units & Formula
Atomic mass unit (amu) = 1/12 mass of C-12 = 1.67X10 -27 kg
Amu
e- = 0.000548 amu p+ =1.00727 amu neutron = 1.00866 amu
E = mc2 Where m = 1.66 x 10-27 kg. C = 3x108 m/sec , therefore
E = hv = hc λ
Mass per atom = Aw NA
E = 1.49 x 10-10 J (1Mev = 1.6 x 10-13 J) E = 931.25 Mev
Planck’s Constant, h = 6.626 070 040 x 10-34 J s Speed of light, C = 3x108 m/sec Avogadro’s No NA= 6.0221 ×1023 mol-1 (atoms ,molecules etc) Joules = kg.m2/s2
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Units & Formula Kinetic energy
Energy at rest e- energy at rest = 0.511MeV
Total energy
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Ionizing Has enough energy to ionize matter directly or indirectly
Radi ation
Non-ionizing Cannot ionize matter, energy lower than ionizing potential
Directly ionising (charged particles - e-, p+, α particles, heavy ions Deposit energy directly in matter Indirectly ionising (neutral particles (photons, neutrons Deposit energy through 2 step process 1. Release charge particle 2. Charge particle deposit energy in matter Source Generated source Radioisotope X-ray tube
Linear Accelerator (LINAC)
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Characteristic x-ray : etransition between atomic shell
Bremstrahlung: enucleus Coulomb interaction
Production of Ionizing photon
Gamma ray: nuclear transition
Annihilation quanta: positron -e- annihilation
X ray tube output spectrum
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Manufactured source 1.X-ray tube 2.Linear Accelerator (basic principle: e- accelerating onto a metal target to produce photons)
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X-ray Tube
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Linear accelerator
(the very
basic) RF Source Waveguide Electron gun
Bending magnets Flattening filter
Target
Primary collimator collimators http://www.irsn.fr/fr/professionnels_sante/documentation/documents/syllabus_chapitre_5.pdf
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Rayleigh Scattering (low energy photon - why the sky is blue) Photoelectric Compton Scattering Pair Production Photon
Radiat ion intera ction e-
conversion of photon into a moving electron (e- then goes on to ionize the medium) scattering of a photon by a (free) electron that leads to a moving electron and a lower energy photon (most important in radiotherapy) conversion of a photon into a matter/antimatter pair of electrons.The two moving electrons share the remainder of the initial photon energy. Eventually the Characteristic x-rays positron annihilates at the end of its range Bremstrahlung giving two 511 keV photons (important in SPECT and PET imaging)
http://ozradonc.wikidot.com/photon-interactions
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Dominance of process
photon energy and atomic number, Z of the absorbing material
For both the photoelectric effect and pair production the photon is totally absorbed while for Compton scattering a photon of degraded energy remains.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-01-introduction-to-ionizing-radiation-fall-2006/lecture-notes/energy_dep_photo.pdf
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Mv or MeV?? To produce a 6MV photon in linac you need a 6MeV electron but the output would be in a spectrum with max energy of 6MeV (photon). Therefore for convenience we refer to photon from x-ray tube using its electric potential (MV or kV) Electron output and radioisotope has mono-energetic energy and is correctly termed as keV or MeV
(*e- output in LINAC is produce but removing target and flattening filter)
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Segre Chart
Radioactivity
Alpha Nucleus too big
Neutron rich
Beta Too many protons or too many neutrons
Stable
Decay mode Gamma Unstable parent unstable atomic nuclei – don’t have enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together due to an excess of either protons or neutron
http://algebralab.com/practice/practice.aspx?file=Reading_TheBandOfStability.xml
Proton rich
α - Alpha Decay During alpha decay, an atom's nucleus sheds two protons and two neutrons in a packet that scientists call an alpha particle.
alpha particle is a fast moving helium nucleus. Alpha particles carry a charge of +2 and strongly interact with matter. They travel only a few inches through air and can easily be stopped with a sheet of paper.
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Too many neutrons or too many protons. One of the protons or neutrons is transformed into the other.
β-Beta Decay Beta+ (positron) a proton decays into a neutron, a positron, and a neutrino
Electron Capture decay by capturing one of
Betaa neutron decays into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino
the electrons that surround the nucleus.
�Gamma
A nucleus changes from a higher energy state to a lower energy state through the emission of electromagnetic radiation
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Formula s Half life, T
1/2
=
Decay constant, Activity,
ln2/ƛ
time taken for half or nuclei present to decay
ƛ = ln2/T1/2
A = A0e-ƛt
Units Bq (Baquerel) = 1 disintigration per second 1mCi = 37MBq 1MBq = 27µCi
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