Measuring and assessing doses of radiation
Radiation dosimetry refers to the measurement, calculation and assessment of the ionising radiation dose absorbed by the human body. Accurate dosimetry in radiotherapy is essential to eradicate a cancer, whilst minimising the risk of severe side effects due to the unavoidable irradiation of healthy tissues and organs. In industrial irradiators for sterilisation of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, the need for accurate dosimetry is governed by two opposing requirements: achieving legal tolerance levels for microbiological contamination, whilst minimising the economic cost.
We provides dosimetry traceable to in-house primary standards for these applications using dedicated facilities such as a clinical linac and high-dose irradiators, as well as specialised Monte Carlo simulation tools. We perform research to develop new dosimetric capabilities following up the rapidly expanding variety of radiotherapy technologies like stereotactic and rotational therapies, as well as for emerging modalities like proton and carbon ion therapy. We contribute to the development of new dosimetric concepts that are closely related to the biological effects of ionising radiation by building and investigating novel micro- and nano-scale dosimeters. We carry out in-vivo dosimetry using portal imaging of the radiation transmitted through the patient and dosimetry for molecular radiotherapy in which radioactive atoms are delivered inside cancer cells via physiological and bio-molecular pathways.
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