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The use of a thyroid uptake system for assaying internal contamination following a radioactive dispersal event

Assaying internal contamination due to inhalation is a primary concern in developing emergency procedures related to Radioactive Dispersal Devices (RDD). One method of determining internal contamination makes use of a common medical instrument, a Thyroid Uptake System (TUS). The TUS used in this research has two collimators a thyroid uptake collimator and a bioassay collimator. Both collimators were considered and modeled in MCNP to be used in conjunction with six MIRD-type (Medical Internal Radiation Dose) phantoms. The collimators were placed in four positions on the phantoms the front right lung, the back right lung, the neck, and the thigh. Unit sources of Cs-137, Co-60, I-131, Ir-192, Am-241, and Sr/Y-90 were placed in the organs of the phantoms. MCNP particle tallies were performed over the detector crystal volume to determine the count-rate contributions from the unit source in each organ. Biokinetic modeling was performed using DCAL (Dose and Risk Calculation System) to generate coefficients to describe activity as a function of time in various organs. By folding the count-rate results with the organ concentrations, the detector response as a function of time after intake has been determined.

This work was performed under funding provided by the Radiation Studies Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/22639
Date01 April 2008
CreatorsScarboro, Sarah Brashear
PublisherGeorgia Institute of Technology
Source SetsGeorgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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