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Units and Measurements: Radiation Physics Paper I

This document discusses various radiation physics concepts including: 1. It defines photon fluence, fluence rate, energy fluence, and energy fluence rate in terms of the number and energy of photons passing through an area over time. 2. It explains the relationships between kerma, exposure, and absorbed dose, defining each term and describing how they relate through concepts like mass energy transfer coefficients. 3. It discusses the Bragg-Gray cavity theory for calculating absorbed dose directly from ion chamber measurements in a medium.

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Santanu Samanta
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81 views33 pages

Units and Measurements: Radiation Physics Paper I

This document discusses various radiation physics concepts including: 1. It defines photon fluence, fluence rate, energy fluence, and energy fluence rate in terms of the number and energy of photons passing through an area over time. 2. It explains the relationships between kerma, exposure, and absorbed dose, defining each term and describing how they relate through concepts like mass energy transfer coefficients. 3. It discusses the Bragg-Gray cavity theory for calculating absorbed dose directly from ion chamber measurements in a medium.

Uploaded by

Santanu Samanta
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Radiation Physics Paper I

UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS

PHOTON FLUENCE
The Fluence of the photon usually denoted by = dN/dA Where dN is the number of photons in a imaginary sphere of cross sectional area A

FLUENCE RATE
Fluence rate or the flux density () is the Fluence per unit time = d / dt
Where dt is the time interval

ENERGY FLUENCE
Energy Fluence() is the quotient of dEfl by da, where dEfl is the sum of the energies of all the photons that enter a sphere of cross-sectional area da. = dE fl/ da For a mono energetic beam, dE fl is just the number of photons dN times energy h carried by each photon: dE fl = dN x h

ENERGY FLUENCE RATE

Energy fluence rate, flux density or intensity () is the energy Fluence per unit time:

= d / dt

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KERMA, EXPOSURE, AND ABSORBED DOSE


Kerma The quantity kerma ; Kinetic Energy Released in the Medium is the energy transferred per unit mass of the medium K = dEtr / dm

dEtr is the sum of the initial kinetic energies of all the charged ionizing particles (electrons and positrons) liberated by uncharged particles (photons) in a material of mass dm

KERMA
The unit for kerma is the same as for dose, that is, J/kg. The name of its SI unit is gray (Gy) and its special unit is rad. For a photon beam traversing a medium, kerma at a point is directly proportional to the photon energy fluence and is given by K= ( dtr /) where dtr / is the mass energy transfer coefficient for the medium averaged over the energy fluence spectrum of photons

ENERGY ABSORBED
den / = (dtr / ) . (1-g)

where (den /) is the averaged mass energy absorption coefficient and g is the average fraction of an electron energy lost to radiative processes (dtr / ) =(den / ) / (1-g)

KERMA

Thus KERMA K = (den /) /(1-g)

A major part of the initial kinetic energy of electrons in low atomic number materials (e.g., air, water, soft tissue) is expended by inelastic collisions (ionization and excitation) with atomic electrons. Only a small part is expended in the radiative collisions with atomic nuclei (bremsstrahlung)

COLLISION AND RADIATIVE KERMA

Hence KERMA can be divided into K = KCol + Krad

where Kcol and Krad are the collision and the radiation parts of kerma Kcol = (den /) K = (den /) . (g/(1-g))

EXPOSURE AND KERMA


Exposure is the ability of Radiation to ionize air OR The quantity exposure is defined as dQ /dm where dQ is the total charge of the ions of one sign produced in air when all the electrons (negatrons and positrons) liberated by photons in (dry) air of mass dm are completely stopped in air

EXPOSURE AND KERMA


The mean energy required to produce an ion pair in dry air is almost constant for all electron energies and has a value- of W W= 33.97 eV / ion pair If e is the electronic charge ( = 1.602 x 1019C), then W/e is the average -energy required per unit charge of ionization produced

EXPOSURE AND KERMA

Thus X = (KCol ) air. (e/W)

Exposure X = (den /)air .(e/W)air


The SI unit for exposure is C/kg and the special unit is roentgen (1 R = 2.58 x 10 -4 C/kg) .

ABSORBED DOSE & KERMA


kerma is maximum at the surface and decreases with depth dose initially builds up to a maximum value and then decreases at the same rate as kerma

ABSORBED DOSE AND KERMA


= D / K Col < 1 Where is the quotient of absorbed dose at a given point and the collision part of kerma at the same point

ABSORBED DOSE & KERMA


Because of the increasing range of the electrons, complete electronic equilibrium does not exist within megavoltage photon beams However, conceptually electronic equilibrium would exist if it were assumed that photon attenuation is negligible throughout the region of interest. = D / K Col = 1

ABSORBED DOSE & KERMA

At depths greater than the maximum range of electrons, there is a region of quasi -equilibrium called the transient electron equilibrium in which: = D / K Col > 1 Because the dose is being deposited by electrons originating upstream, one can think of a point somewhere upstream at a distance less than the maximum electron range from where the energy is effectively transported by secondary electrons This point has been called the "center of electron production"

ABSORBED DOSE & KERMA


The relationship between absorbed dose and photon energy fluence Q at a point where a transient electron equilibrium exists is given by D = . . (den /)

ABSORBED DOSE TO AIR


In the presence of charged particle equilibrium (CPE), dose at a point in any medium is equal to the collision part of kerma, that is, = 1. Dose to air (Dair) under these conditions is given from the following equation = D / K Col = 1 Dair = (K Col )air = X. W/e when =1

ABSORBED DOSE TO AIR

Dair (J/kg) = X(R) 2.58 x 10 -4 (C /Kg) 33.97 (J/C) Dair (J/kg) = 0.876 x 10 -2 (J/kg) X(R) Dair (rad) = 0.876 (rad / R) X

ABSORBED DOSE TO ANY MEDIUM

In the presence of full charged particle equilibrium, the absorbed dose (D) to a medium can be calculated from the energy fluence , and the weighted mean mass energy absorption coefficient, en / D = . (den /) when =1

Suppose air is the energy fluence at a point in air and med is the energy fluence at the same point when a material other than air (medium) is interposed in the beam Dair = air. (den /)air

Dmed = med. (den /)med

DOSE TO AIR AND MEDIUM


(Dmed / Dair )= (med. / air )(en /)med /(en /)air

(Dmed / Dair )= A . (en /)med /(en /)air Where A = (med. / air )

DOSE TO MEDIUM

(Dmed / Dair )= A . (en /)med /(en /)air Dmed = Dair A . (en /)med /(en /)air

Dmed = X. Wair/e A . (en /)med /(en /)air Dmed = 0.876 . [(en /)med /(en /) air] X. A

THE F FACTOR

Dmed = 0.876 . [(en /)med /(en /) air] X. A Dmed = fmed X. A

Where fmed =0.876 . [(en /)med /(en /) air]

The quantity fmed or the f factor is sometimes called the roentgen-to-rad conversion factor

THE F FACTOR

DOSE MEASUREMENT IN AIR

D = ftissue X. Aeq

DOSE MEASUREMENT FROM EXPOSURE WITH ION CHAMBER IN A MEDIUM


Exposure X= M . Nx Dmed = X fmed Am Dmed = M . Nx W/e [(en /) medair ] Am

THE BRAGG-GRAY CAVITY THEORY


Calculation of absorbed dose from exposure is subject to some major limitations May not be used for photons above 3 MeV May not be used in cases where electronic equilibrium does not exist Exposure applies only to x and y radiations and not for particles The Bragg-Gray cavity theory, may be used without such restrictions to calculate dose directly from ion chamber measurements in a medium

THE BRAGG-GRAY CAVITY THEORY


According to the Bragg-Gray theory, the ionization produced in a gas-filled cavity placed in a medium is related to the energy absorbed in the surrounding medium When the cavity is sufficiently small so that its introduction into the medium does not alter the number or distribution of the electrons that would exist in the medium without the cavity

THE BRAGG-GRAY CAVITY THEORY

Dmed = Jg W/e [(S/) medg ]

Dmed Is the dose to the medium Jg is the ionization of one sign [(S/) medg ] weighted mean ratio of the mass stopping power -of the medium to that of the gas for the electrons crossing the cavity [Jg W/e ] is the energy absorbed per unit mass

STOPPING POWER

The term stopping power refers to the energy loss by electrons per unit path length of a material The total mass stopping power (S/ ), of a material for charged particles is defined by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) as the quotient of dE by dl, where & is the total energy lost by the particle in traversing a path length dl in the material of density . (S/ )tot = (S/ )col + (S/ )rad

where (S/ )col , (S/ )rad and apply to coalitional losses and radiation losses, respectively,

COLLISIONAL AND RADIATIVE LOSS

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