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The application of microdosimetry to the metrology of low-energy X rays used in mammography

A. J. Waker, PhD ^* and M. Marco

Department of Medical Physics, University of Leeds, The General Infirmary, Leeds LS1 3EX, UK Instituto de Estudios de la Energia, CIEMAT, Avenida Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid, Spain

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

In a relatively recent contribution to this journal, Brenner and Amols (1989) published an article concerning the application of microdosimetry to the assessment of the radiological risk of mammography. The ultimate value of their work depends on whether the basic response function referred to in the paper and given in ICRU Report 40 (ICRU, 1986) truly reflects the relative efficiency of low-LET radiation for cancer induction. However, provided the particular response function employed can be expressed in terms of microdosimetric quantities the method itself is independent of the actual function and the paper of Brenner and Amols is a good illustration of the power of this type of analysis.

Microdosimetry is, however, more than just an interesting but somewhat esoteric branch of radiation physics. The objective of this communication is to show, using some preliminary mammographic data, how experimental microdosimetry as a measuring technique can be used to provide, in a direct manner, information concerning the quality of a radiation field and values of basic quantities such as absorbed dose and dose-rate.

The mammographic set used for the measurements was a Soredex Mamex dc, which is fitted with a molybdenum tube operated at a fixed current of 40 mA and applied potentials from 25 kV to a maximum of 31 kV. Total filtration is listed as 0.5 mm A1.

Key Words: Microdosimetry • Dosimetry • X rays • Mammography

^* Current address: AECL Research, Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada K0J 1J0.

Received for publication March 18, 1991. Revision received July 25, 1991. Accepted for publication September 4, 1991.