Dosimetry of radiation is the process used to translate the amount of ionizing radiation deposited in the tissue to its tissue effect, which is affected by the "damage potential" of the type of radiation, the dose, and its rate of the dose administered. In assessing radiation safety, risk evaluation, diagnostic dose estimates, and treatment planning, the amounts obtained from dosimetry measurements are central.
Dosimetry
Dosimetry or dosimetria is the method of comparing the amount of radioactivity administered to the dose of radiation ingested in tumors, tissues, or the body. To prevent excess toxicity, dosimetry is critical for dose correlation with clinical outcomes and, in some cases, for treatment planning. Generally, for several purposes, the doses measured for TaRT are less reliable than for external beam radiation therapy. These include the input of small radiation dose data, inhomogeneous dose distributions, and the methodology of assumptions/calculation used to estimate absorbed TaRT doses.
Dosimetry is such an essential factor in the industry of health and medicine. Especially for cancer patients, it does so much work and benefit.
Accurate measurements are essential in daily life, whether weighing apples at the supermarket or drugs at the drug store. The decisions we make depend on the quantity of the commodity we purchase—or rather the measured weight. Although a few percent of mistakes may not be of significant concern when buying fruits and vegetables, it is vital to be correct when it comes to medical care for illness. It takes the utmost caution to ensure that it is correctly measured by ionizing radiation, which can be used to cure cancer by killing unhealthy cells but is undetectable by human senses. Otherwise, too little or too much radiation being treated may be detrimental to the cancer patient.
How do we measure radiation from medicine?
During treatment, exact and concentrated doses of radiation are administered to cancer patients to kill cancer cells.
An instrument is put in a radiation beam to calculate the doses, which creates an electric charge within the instrument. Scientists may calculate the corresponding amount of deposited energy obtained by the device based on the electrical charge or current size. The next step is to convert the electrical quantity into a radiation dose by adding a calibration coefficient. This number indicates an amount of radiation depends on the corresponding electrical quantity.
However, depending on the type of radioactive source (photons, electrons, etc. the material the device is made of, or the environmental factors at the period of the exam, the measurement of the electrical quantity may vary.
How can we make sure that cancer patients are supplied with the right amount of radiation?
The dosimetry group and many medical physics professional societies agreed in the late sixties to standardize the procedures by developing "dosimetry protocols" or "codes of practices" since the calculation of an absorbed dose is complicated and depends on several external and internal variables, including information on the types of instruments to be used.
The concept is that dosimetry, or the calculation of radiation doses, would be highly consistent by encouraging nations to use a particular dosimetry procedure along with an instrument whose calibration is traceable to national standards. Dosimetry accuracy is vital for quality radiotherapy care at the national level and encourages sound clinical trial trials to compare different treatment modalities.
