Authors:
- This book highlights and analyses the strengths, weaknesses and assumptions of the theoretical developments
- It acts as an adjunct to other resources which provide tabular forms of energy loss data but do not explore in any depth the theory leading to the calculation of these data
- The book congregates all of the advanced knowledge required in the development of the theory in its medical applications in a single and unmatched resource
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Table of contents (18 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Introduction to Charged Particles
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Front Matter
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Collision Energy Loss
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Front Matter
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Stochastic Collision Energy Loss
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Front Matter
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About this book
Accurate radiation dosimetry is a requirement of radiation oncology, diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine. It is necessary so as to satisfy the needs of patient safety, therapeutic and diagnostic optimisation, and retrospective epidemiological studies of the biological effects resulting from low absorbed doses of ionising radiation. The radiation absorbed dose received by the patient is the ultimate consequence of the transfer of kinetic energy through collisions between energetic charged particles and atoms of the tissue being traversed. Thus, the ability of the medical physicist to both measure and calculate accurately patient dosimetry demands a deep understanding of the physics of charged particle interactions with matter. Interestingly, the physics of charged particle energy loss has an almost exclusively theoretical basis, thus necessitating an advanced theoretical understanding of the subject in order to apply it appropriately to the clinical regime.
Each year, about one-third of the world's population is exposed to ionising radiation as a consequence of diagnostic or therapeutic medical practice. The optimisation of the resulting radiation absorbed dose received by the patient and the clinical outcome sought, whether diagnostic or therapeutic, demands accuracy in the evaluation of the radiation absorbed doses resulting from such exposures. This requirement arrises primarily from two broadly-encompassing factors:
- The requirement in radiation oncology for a 5% or less uncertainty in the calculation and measurement of absorbed dose so as to optimise the therapeutic ratio of the probabilities of tumour control and normal tissue complications; and
- The establishment and further refinement of dose reference levels used in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine to minimise the amount of absorbed dose for a required degree of diagnostic benefit.
The radiation absorbed dose is the outcome of energeticcharged particles decelerating and transferring their kinetic energy to tissue. The calculation of this energy deposition, characterised by the stopping power, is unique in that it is derived entirely from theoretical principles. This dominant role of the associated theory makes its understanding of fundamental to the calculation of the radiation absorbed dose to the patient.
The theoretical development of charged particle energy loss recognised in medical physics textbooks is in general limited to basic derivations based upon classical theory, generally a simplified form of the Bohr theory. More advanced descriptions of, for example, the Bethe-Bloch quantum result usually do not go beyond the simple presentation of the result without full explanation of the theoretical development of the theory and consideration of its limitations, its dependencies upon the Born perturbation theory and the various correction factors needed to correct for the failures of that Born theory at higher orders. This is not appropriate for a full understanding of the theory that its importance deserves. The medical radiation physicist should be aware of the details of the theoretical derivations of charged particle energy loss in order to appreciate the levels of accuracy in tabular data provided in reports and the calculation methodologies used in modern Monte Carlo calculations of radiation dosimetry.
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“This is a detailed comprehensive discussion of quantum mechanics and particle physics related to radiation physics and therapy. … This book is of great value to radiation oncologists and physicists. I highly recommend it.” (Joseph J. Grenier, Amazon.com, October, 2014)Authors and Affiliations
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Amersham, United Kingdom
Brian J McParland
About the author
Brian J McParland, BASc MSc PhD CPhys CSci FCCPM FIPEM FInstP, is a Head of Medical Physics with an extensive research and clinical background in medical physics in senior hospital, university and commercial appointments. He is a recognised authority in the field of medical radiation dosimetry, having practised the discipline in radiation oncology, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation protection. Dr McParland is an elected Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, and the Institute of Physics, and is both a Certified Scientist and a Certified Physicist in the United Kingdom. Dr McParland is the author of the awarded companion text book, Nuclear Medicine Radiation Dosimetry: Advanced Theoretical Principles and of over 90 peer-reviewed publications in the medical and physics literature.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Medical Radiation Dosimetry
Book Subtitle: Theory of Charged Particle Collision Energy Loss
Authors: Brian J McParland
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5403-7
Publisher: Springer London
eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2014
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4471-5402-0Published: 29 November 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4471-7005-1Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4471-5403-7Published: 11 November 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXVI, 622
Number of Illustrations: 121 b/w illustrations, 5 illustrations in colour
Topics: Nuclear Medicine, Imaging / Radiology