Radiation Safety Flashcards
Where do we get exposures?
computed tomography nuclear medicine procedures interventional radiology cardiac catheterization electrophysiology procedures
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Cardiac Cath Lab:
Angioplasty and/or stent insertion for coronary stenosis
Diagnostic cardiac cath
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Computed Tomography:
Assessment of the airway (neck or thoracic tumors)
Assessment of bony trauma (especially the spine)
Imaging of brain tumors or cerebral hemorrhage
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Electrophysiology Lab
Cardioversion
Permanent pacemaker insertion
Radiofrequency catheter ablation
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Interventional Radiology
Balloon angioplasty of cerebral vasospasm
Carotid cavernous fistula and vertebral fistula treatment
Catheterization of ducts, vascular lesions, and tumors for regional delivery of chemotherapy
Embolization or embolectomy of vascular lesions
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
Meningioma treatment
sclerotherapy of venous angiomas
Thrombolysis of acute thromboembolic stroke
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
Transluminal dilation, angioplasty, and/or stent insertion for vascular or biliary stenosis.
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Nuclear Medicine
Positron emission tomography
Single photon emission computed tomography
Ventilation-perfusion scan
Potential Sources for Radiation for Anesthesia Providers:
Radiation Therapy
Electron beam radiation therapy (usually intraoperative)
Gamma-knife surgery (eg. for brain tumors and arteriovenous malformation)
Proton beam therapy (e.g. for brain tumors and prostate carcinoma)
Sources of Radiation: What are the categories that electromagnetic radiation is divided into?
Nonionizing Radiation: Longer wavelength; less energy
Ionizing radiation: Shorter wavelength; more energy
What is ionization and examples of ionization radiation:
Ionization: removal of an electron from an atom
Examples of ioinizing radiation: x-rays, gamma rays, alpha (A) and beta (B) particles.
What are the natural sources of ionizing radiation?
Cosmic rays from space
Terrestrial radiation (resulting from deposits of uranium, radon, and other radionuclides in the earth)
Internally deposited radionuclides (mainly the natural metabolite potassium 40 [40K])
What are manufactures sources of Ionizing Radiation
Nuclear power and industrial sources
Consumer products (eg. smoke detectors, luminescent watch dials, and television and computer screens)
Medical imaging modalities using radioactive decay processes (nuclear medicine), and x-ray generation (eg. computed tomography, interventional radiology, and electrophysiology and cardiac catheterization procedures)
What is ALARA?
ALARA: The principle that radiation exposure should be kept as low as reasonably achievable.
What are Alpha (α) particle?
Alpha (α) particle: The particulate form of ionizing radiation consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons (the helium nucleus); emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom during radioactive decay.
What is an Anode
Anode: The positively charged side of an x-ray tube, which contains the tungsten target.
What are Beta (β) particle?
Beta (β) particle: The ionizing radiation with characteristics of an electron; emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom during radioactive decay.
What is Bremsstrahlung x-ray?
Bremsstrahlung x-ray: An x-ray resulting from interaction of the projectile electron with the tungsten target nucleus; braking radiation.
What is a Cathod?
Cathode: The negatively charged side of an x-ray tube, which contains the filament where electrons are “boiled off.”
What is a Curie (Ci)?
Curie (Ci): A unit of radioactivity; expressed as 1 Ci = 3.7 × 10^10
Disintegrations per second = 3.7 × 10^10 Bq.
What is the Dose equivalent?
Dose equivalent: The radiation quantity that is used for radiation protection and that expresses dose on a common scale for all radiations; expressed in rem or sievert (Sv).
What is the Early effect?
Early effect: A radiation response that occurs within minutes or days after radiation exposure.
What is Electromagnetic radiation?
Electromagnetic radiation: Oscillating electric and magnetic fields that travel in a vacuum with the velocity of light; includes x-rays, gamma rays, and some nonionizing radiation (such as ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio waves).
In terms of radiation, what is Frequency (f)?
Frequency (f): the number of cycles that occur per second measured in hertz (hz)
In terms of radiation, what is Gray (Gy)?
Gray (Gy): The name for the Systeme International unit of radiation absorbed dose (rad); 1 Gy = 100 rad.
What is the Inverse square law?
Inverse square law: The law stating that the intensity of the radiation at a location is inversely proportional to the square of its distance from the source of radiation.
What is Ionization?
Ionization: The removal of an orbital electron from an atom.
What is a Kilovolt (peak), or kV(p)?
Kilovolt (peak), or kV(p): A measure of the maximum electrical potential across an x-ray tube; expressed in kilovolts; a factor that determines the penetrability of the x-ray beam.
What is the Law of Bergonié and Tribondeau?
Law of Bergonié and Tribondeau: The principle stating that the radiosensitivity of cells is directly proportional to their reproductive activity and inversely proportional to their degree of differentiation.
What is Linear energy transfer?
Linear energy transfer: A measure of the rate at which energy is transferred from ionizing radiation to soft tissue; expressed in kiloelectron volts per micrometer of soft tissue.
What is Milliampere-second (mAs)?
Milliampere-second (mAs): The product of exposure time and x-ray tube current; a measure of the total number of electrons coming from the cathode.
What is Nonionizing radiation?
Nonionizing radiation: Radiation for which the mechanism of action in tissue does not involve ionization.
What is a Photon?
Photon: Electromagnetic radiation that has neither mass or electric charge but interacts with matter as though it is a particle; xrays and gamma rays
What is Planck constant (h)?
Planck constant (h): A fundamental physical constant that relates the energy of radiation to its frequency.
What is a Rad?
Rad (radiation absorbed dose): The unit for absorbed dose; 1 rad = 0.01 Gy
What is Radioactive decay?
Radioactive decay: A naturally occurring process whereby an unstable atomic nucleus relieves its instability through the emission of one or more energetic par- ticles.
What is Radiosensitivity?
Radiosensitivity: The relative susceptibility of cells, tissues, and organs to the harmful action of ionizing radiation.
What is Rem?
Rem (radiation equivalent man): The unit for dose equivalent and effective dose; has been replaced with the sievert (Sv) in the Systeme International system; 1 rem = 0.01 Sv.
What is Scatter radiation?
Scatter radiation: The x-rays scattered back in the direction of the incident x-ray beam; constitutes the primary source of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation.
What is Sievert (Sv)?
Sievert (Sv): The Systeme International unit of dose equivalence; 1 Sv = 100 rem.
What is the Stochastic effects?
Stochastic effects: The probability or frequency of the biologic response to radiation as a function of radiation dose; disease incidence increases proportionally with dose, and there is no dose threshold.
What is the Threshold dose?
Threshold dose: The dose below which a person has a negligible chance of sustaining specific biologic damage.
What is Tungsten?
Tungsten: A metal element that is the principal component of the cathode and the anode.
What is the Weighting factor (WR)?
Weighting factor (WR): The specific value that accounts for the ability of different types of ionizing radiation to cause varying degrees of biological damage.
What are the 5 physical characteristics of Radiation?
Mass, Energy, Velocity, Charge and Origin