RADIATION UNITS Sievert (Sv):

RADIATION UNITS  Standard international (SI) measurement of dose.

2 system are in common use:  1 sievert =100 rem.
- Special units  microsievert (mSv) is one millionth of a sievert.
- System international (SI) Units
Special units are used by most regulatory agencies in the U.S. EXPOSURE:
SPECIAL UNITS  Quantity most commonly used to express the
RADIATION UNITS amount of radiation delivered to a point.
Roentgen:  Conventional unit is the roentgen (R)
 unit refers to the amount of ionization present in the  Sl unit is the coulomb per kilogram of air (C/kg):
air. One roentgen of gamma- or x-ray exposure 1 R = 2.58 x 10-4 C/kg
produces approximately 1 rad (0.01 gray) 1 C/kg = 3876 R
Curie (Ci):
 Air kerma is another radiation quantity that is
 original unit used to express the decay rate of a
sometimes used to express the radiation
sample of radioactive material.
concentration delivered to a point, such as
 Equal to the quantity of radioactive material in which
the entrance surface of a patient's body.
the number of atoms decaying per second is equal to
 kerma, originated from the acronym, KERMA,
37 billion becquerels.
for Kinetic Energy Released per unit MASS (of air).
 Based on the rate of decay atoms within one gram of
 It is a measure of the amount of radiation energy, in
radium. Curie is radioactivity used in the system of
the unit of joules (J), actually deposited in or
radiation units.
absorbed in a unit mass (kg) of air.
 Dose: A general term used to refer to the effect on a
material that is exposed to radiation. International Commission on Radiation Units and
Measurements (ICRU)
 The International Commission on Radiation
Units and Measurements (ICRU) is a
standardization body set up in 1925 by the
International Congress of Radiology, originally as
the X-Ray Unit Committee until 1950
Rad(R):
ABSORBED DOSE:
 Original unit for expressing absorbed dose, which
 The measurement of radiation absorbed dose (rad)
the amount of energy in any type of ionizing
represents the amount of energy deposited per unit
radiation (e.g., alpha, beta, gamma, neutrons, etc.)
mass of absorbing material
deposited in any medium (e.g., water, tissue, air).
Rem (Roentgen Equivalent Man):
 Dosage received from the exposure to a rad. number
of rads multiplied by the quality factor of the
 The fundamental quantity for describing the effects
particular source of radiation.
of radiation in a tissue or organ is the absorbed dose.
 Rem and millirem commonly used measurement
 Absorbed dose is the energy deposited in a small
unit of radiation dose.
volume of matter (tissue) by the radiation beam
SI UNITS
passing through the matter divided by the mass of
RADIATION UNITS
the matter.
Becquerel (Bq):
 Absorbed dose is thus measured in terms of energy
 Unit of radioactive decay equal to one disintegration
deposited per unit mass of material.
per second.
 Absorbed dose is measured in joules/kilogram, and a
 Radioactivity units used in international system of
quantity of 1 joule/kilogram has the special unit of
radiation units, referred to as the “SI” units
gray (Gy) in the International System of quantities
Gray (Gy):
and units.
 The international system (SI) unit of radiation dose
 Note: In terms of the older system of radiation
expressed in terms of absorbed energy per unit mass
quantities and units previously used, 1 Gy equals 100
of tissue.
rad, or 1mGy equals 0.1 rad.
 Unit of absorbed dose and has replaced the rad.
 1 gray = 1 Joule/kilogram and also equals 100 rad.
 EQUIVALENT DOSE:
 For the same absorbed dose (deposited energy) in
tissue, different forms of ionizing radiation can have
different biological effect
 “Equivalent dose” attempts to normalize these
differences.
 The measurement of biological effect of radiation
requires a third unit called a quality factor (QF). The
EFFECTIVE DOSE:
quality factor takes into account the different
 Equal to the sum over the all human organs and
degrees of biological damage produced by equal
tissues of products of the equivalent dose for each
doses of different types of radiation.
organ or tissue and corresponding tissue weighting
RADIOACTIVITY:
factor wT :
-Measure of the ionizing radiation released by a radioactive
 Note: Human organs and tissues have different
material. Different types of ionizing radiation have the
sensitivity to radiation.
potential to damage human tissue
 Effective dose is becoming a very useful radiation
quantity for expressing relative risk to humans, both
patients and other personnel.

 It is actually a simple and very logical concept. It

takes into account the specific organs and areas of
the body that are exposed. The point is that all parts
of the body and organs are not equally sensitive to
the possible adverse effects of radiation, such as
cancer induction and mutations.

Effective dose is such a useful quantity. Why?

 There is often a need to compare the amount of
radiation received by patients for different types of
x-ray procedures, for example, a chest radiograph
and a CT scan.
 The effective dose is the most appropriate quantity
for doing this. Also, by using effective dose it is
possible to put the radiation received from
diagnostic procedures into perspective with other
exposures, especially natural background radiation.
-In accordance to Publication 103 of the International
Commission on Radiological Protection issued in 2007, the
following annual dose limits (radiation from man-made
sources additional to the natural background) are stated: