Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The human body cannot sense ionizing radiation except in very high doses, but the effects of ionization can be used to characterize the radiation. Parameters of interest include disintegration rate, particle flux, particle type, beam energy, kerma, dose rate, and radiation dose.
Since the body is made up of various substances with differing densities, ionising and non-ionising radiation can be used to reveal the internal structure of the body on an image receptor by highlighting these differences using attenuation, or in the case of ionising radiation, the absorption of X-ray photons by the denser substances (like ...
The radiation used in CT scans can damage body cells, including DNA molecules, which can lead to radiation-induced cancer. [148] The radiation doses received from CT scans is variable. Compared to the lowest dose X-ray techniques, CT scans can have 100 to 1,000 times higher dose than conventional X-rays. [ 149 ]
Radiation is a moving form of energy, classified into ionizing and non-ionizing type. [4] Ionizing radiation is further categorized into electromagnetic radiation (without matter) and particulate radiation (with matter). [4] Electromagnetic radiation consists of photons, which can be thought of as energy packets, traveling in the form of a wave ...
Exposure can be from a source of radiation external to the human body or due to internal irradiation caused by the ingestion of radioactive contamination. Ionizing radiation is widely used in industry and medicine, and can present a significant health hazard by causing microscopic damage to living tissue.
Radiation can have harmful effects on solid materials as it can degrade their properties so that they are no longer mechanically sound. This is of special concern as it can greatly affect their ability to perform in nuclear reactors and is the emphasis of radiation material science , which seeks to mitigate this danger.
Neutron radiation is a form of ionizing radiation that presents as free neutrons.Typical phenomena are nuclear fission or nuclear fusion causing the release of free neutrons, which then react with nuclei of other atoms to form new nuclides—which, in turn, may trigger further neutron radiation.
The absorbed dose can be a poor indicator of the biological effect of radiation, as the biological effect can depend on many other factors, including the type of radiation, energy, and type of tissue. The relative biological effectiveness can help give a better measure of the biological effect of radiation.