Medical countermeasures against radiation, as being developed in other parts of the proposed center, must be guided by information on dose to the individual patient. Members of the public do not carry radiation dosimeters such as those used to monitor occupational exposures, therefore methods must be devised to utilize physical or biological materials on the person to assist in dose estimation. In the event of an actual terrorist event, the number of affected persons may be anywhere from tens of people to thousands of people; based on previous radiation events, the number of people that think they are seriously affected will probably be much larger (ten or more times) than those actually requiring medical attention. It is thus crucial that technologies be available to support medical triage in radiation events so that unaffected people can be validated, allowing available resources to be used in treating those requiring medical attention. This proposal seeks to provide one potential method by which an estimate of radiation dose may be made immediately upon presentation to a first responder or medical emergency personnel. Our goal is to facilitate the development of a commercial instrument as quickly as possible.

 

 

The hypothesis behind the proposed research is that a human tooth can be used as a dosimeter to register the radiation dose to its carrier. That hypothesis is based on the following observations. First, the tooth and other natural materials have long been objects of study for elucidating radiation retrospective dose using methods such as electron paramagnetic resonance and thermoluminescence. Recently, one of our team members demonstrated the potential of using optical stimulation of luminescence to determine dose to the tooth (Godfrey-Smith, 1997). Second, commercial instruments that make use of optical stimulation of manufactured luminescent dosimeters are marketed (Landauer Inc.). In addition, a variety of efforts are underway in our Oklahoma State University collaborator’s laboratory to develop a portable instrument for use with optical fibers. Elsewhere instruments are being developed for applications in a variety of settings including medicine, environmental monitoring, remote monitoring at radiation facilities and retrospective studies for radiation accidents (Bøtter-Jensen et al, 2003). Third, much relevant science is available to support our contention that such an instrument is possible. A review of the literature demonstrates that much is known about the physical techniques required to determine the characteristics of mineral-like materials like tooth enamel that we will need to uncover during the process of this proposal (Bøtter-Jensen et al, 2003). In order to relate the dose at the tooth to dose to the carrier, it is necessary to use computational models. Our dosimetry applications group has pursued such calculations for decades (see for example Eckerman and Ryman, 1993).