Radiation dose

Radiation dose quantifies ionizing radiation in matter, either by energy deposited per unit mass or by weighted estimates of biological harm.

Absorbed dose: Energy imparted by ionizing radiation per unit mass, measured in grays. It is the physical energy-deposition quantity underlying biological dose estimates.
Linear energy transfer: The energy an ionizing particle transfers to material per unit distance traveled. It helps explain why equal absorbed doses can produce different biological effects.
Radiation protection: The practice of limiting harmful exposure to ionizing radiation while preserving its beneficial uses. Dose quantities support exposure controls and protection standards.
Exposure (radiation): A measure of ionization produced by X-rays or gamma rays in air, expressed in coulombs per kilogram. Exposure is defined in air and is not the absorbed dose in tissue.
Equivalent dose: Absorbed dose in an organ or tissue multiplied by a radiation weighting factor, measured in sieverts. It adjusts absorbed dose for differences in radiation type.
Relative biological effectiveness: The ratio of doses from two radiation types needed to produce the same specified biological effect. It compares biological effects that weighting factors approximate for protection.
Radiation dose assessment: The estimation of radiation exposure and dose received by a person or population. It applies dose quantities to reconstruct or monitor exposure.
Radioactivity: The spontaneous nuclear transformations of unstable atoms, measured as activity per unit time. Activity counts decays; dose describes energy deposited in matter.
Effective dose: A weighted sum of organ equivalent doses, using tissue weighting factors, that estimates overall detriment. It extends equivalent dose to account for differing tissue sensitivities.
Tissue weighting factor: A dimensionless factor representing an organ or tissue’s relative contribution to overall radiation detriment. It determines how organ doses contribute to effective dose.

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