Biological Effects at High Doses

Biological Effects at High Doses
Session overview
Description
This session describes deterministic effects at high doses, such as those used in radiotherapy, interventional radiology or therapeutic nuclear medicine.

This session was reviewed by John Byrne and updated in March 2019.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe ionising deterministic effects and give examples
• Understand the deterministic effects on the embryo and foetus during the term of pregnancy
• Identify examinations and treatments in which deterministic effects may occur

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should complete the sessions:

• Introduction to Radiation Protection (607-0001)
• Properties of Ionising Radiations (607-0002)
• Biological Effects of Radiation (607-0003)
• Radiation Units and their Uses (607-0005)

This session is designed to explain deterministic effects that can be caused by the high radiation doses used in radiotherapy, therapeutic nuclear medicine and interventional radiology.

The session also considers the deterministic effects to an unborn child throughout the term of a pregnancy.

Throughout this module self assessment sections will help you to retain this information and test how much you know and have learned.