Direct determination of radiation dose in human blood

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a novel method to directly and retrospectively measure internal radiation doses in human blood using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), with potential applications in medicine and healthcare.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach for direct, retrospective dose measurement in human blood using OSL, filling a gap in existing radiation dose assessment methods.

Findings

Successfully measured internal doses of 0.46Gy and 0.51Gy in blood samples.

Correlated external laboratory doses with internal doses, e.g., 10Gy external dose corresponds to ~10.8Gy internal dose.

Proved that blood samples can be used to accurately determine radiation exposure retrospectively.

Abstract

Our purpose is to measure the internal radiation dose (ID) using human blood sample. In the literature, there is no process that allows the direct measurement of ID received by a person. This study has shown that it is possible to determine ID in human blood exposed to internal or external ionizing radiation treatment both directly and retrospectively. OSL technique was used to measure the total dose from the blood sample. OSL counts from the waste blood of the patient injected with a radiopharmaceutical for diagnostic or treatment purposes and from a blood sample having a laboratory-injected radiation dose were both used for measurements. The decay and dose-response curves (DRC) were plotted for different doses. The doses received by different blood aliquots have been determined by interpolating the natural luminescence counts to DRC. In addition, OSL counts from a healthy blood sample exposed to an external radiation source were measured. The blood aliquots were given different 0-200Gy beta doses and their decay and dose-response curves were plotted. The internal dose received by the blood aliquots injected with radioisotope was determined by interpolating the natural luminescence counts to DRC. The internal dose values were found as 0.46Gy and 0.51Gy for different dose range. The blood aliquots were exposed to different external laboratory doses. The internal dose values corresponding to 10Gy laboratory dose from the aliquots exposed to external radiation were found as 10.94Gy for Disc3 and ~10.79Gy for Disc1.This study shows that the dose received by a person can be measured directly, simply and retrospectively by using only a very small amount of blood sample. The results will have important ramifications for the medicine and healthcare fields in particular.