| At present, the dosimetry systems of both the International Commission on Radiological Protection, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Medical Internal Radiation Dose Committee utilize a series of stylized or mathematical anthropometric models of patient anatomy developed in 1987 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In this study, substantial revisions to the ORNL phantom series are reported with tissue compositions, tissue densities, and organ masses adjusted to match their most recent values in the literature. In addition, both the ICRP and MIRD systems of internal dosimetry implicitly consider that electron and beta-particle energy emitted within the source organs of the patient are fully deposited within these organs.;With the development of the revised ORNL phantom series, three additional applications were explored as part of this dissertation research. First, the phantoms were used in combination to assess external radiation exposures to family members caring or interacting with patients released from the hospital following radionuclide therapy with I-131. Values of family member effective dose are then compared to values obtained using NRC guidance and based on a simple point-source methodology which ignores the effects of photon attenuation and scatter within both the source individual (patient) and the target individual (family member). Second, the anatomical structures of the extrathoracic airways and thoracic airways (exclusive of the lungs themselves) have been included in the entire revised ORNL phantom series of pediatric individuals. Values of cross-region photon dose are explored for use in radioactive aerosol inhalation exposures to members of the general public, and comparisons are made to values given by the ICRP in which surrogate organ assignments were made in the absence of explicit models of these airways. Finally, the revised ORNL phantoms of the adult male and adult female are used to determine internal photon exposures to medical personnel during emergency treatment of victim contaminated with radioactivity following the detonation of radiological dispersion devices containing various radionuclide sources. Guidance is then given on the maximum possible treatment times that would be permitted under current international guidance for life-saving exposures to medical personnel. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
