Principles of radiation biology Flashcards
What is radiation biology?
The branch of biology concerend with the effects of ionizing radiation on living systems
What are these three things describing?
- The sequence of events occuring afger the absorption of energy from ionizing radiation
- The action of the living system to make up for the consequences of this energy assimilation
- Injury to the living system that may be produced
Radiation biology
At what level does potentially harmful effects of ionizing radiation primarily occur at?
The cellular level
What percentage of interaction of ionzing radiation with tissues are harmless?
90% of interactions are harmless
T/F
Interactions are a probablilty and may or may not result in damage
True
T/F
The latent period duration of visible damage decreeases as dose increases.
True (the larger the radiation dose the quicker the reaction)
T/F
Visible damage from radiation is indistinguishable from other causes.
True
T/F
It is difficult to determine if low (diagnostic) levels of radiation cause damage
True
How does ionizing radiation damage living systems?
By ionizing the atoms comprimising the molecular structure of these systems
T/F
Ionzied atoms can bond properly with molecules provided that a low LET reaction occured.
False; ionzied atoms will not bond properly in molecules
What does LET stand for?
Linear energy transfer
What does RBE stand for?
Relative biologic effectivness
What does OER stand for?
Oxygen enhancement ratio
What attributes determine the extent to which different radiation modalilties transfer energy into biologic tissue?
Charge, mass and energy
What are the three concepts that help us to understand the way ionizing radiation causes injury and how the effects may vary in biologic tisssue?
- LET
- RBE
- OER
What is the defenition of LET?
The average energy depositied as ionizing radiation passes through a medium (per unit lenth of track)
What are the units for LET?
keV/um (kiloelectron volts per micron)
T/F
An increased LET increases the chances of producing a significant biological response.
True
What are the two categories of LET?
- Low linear energy transfer radiation
- High linear energy transfer raidation
What type of LET is harder for the body to repair? Why?
High lET; becuase the there are more ionziations
What does LET allow us to asses?
The potential tissue and organ damage from exposure to ionzing radiation
T/F
When E deposits are spread out more, the body is able to fix them eaiser.
True
What types of radiation are labled 1-3?
- Alpha radiation
- Beta radiation
- X-ray radiation
What types of radiation are considered low LET radiation?
- Gamma rays
- X-rays
What types of radiation are considered high LET radiation?
- Particulate radiation (alpha, neutrons)
T/F
EMR is considered low LET
True
What is the general mass (high or low) and charge (+/-) of low LET radiation?
-Low mass
-Negative charge
What is the general mass (high or low) and charge (+/-) of high LET radiation?
-High mass and/or;
-High charge
What is the penetrating ability of low LET radiation?
Highly penetrating
What type of action is responsible for most damage that occurs to the cell with low LET radiation?
Indirect action
T/F
With low LET raidation, ionziations are very frequent.
False; low LET radiation is sparsely ionzing
What do the interactions with tissue look like for low LET radiation?
-Interactions (ionziations) spread out along the length of the tissue track
-Few ionziations over the distance that it traveled
What is the penetrating ability of high LET radiation?
Less penetrating than low LET radiation
What do the interactions with tissue look like for high LET radiation?
-Transferes a large amount of ionizations over a small area of tissue
What are the chances of low LET radiation damging the structure of the DNA? What is this interaction called?
-Very low
-It is called a direct hit
If low LET radiation does cause a direct hit, it this reparable or unreparable?
Reparable
Why are direct hits to DNA less common with low LET radiation?
There is a higher chance it will miss the DNA because the ionziations are spread out