Dose Estimation Resources

As part of its mission to disseminate the most accurate dose estimates and models, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has made available several compendia of dose information.

The resources below are intended to provide dose magnitude estimation information to help inform medical management in radiation incidents and is not intended to be used for regulatory or other dose assignment purposes.

• Early internal and external dose magnitude estimation (.PDF, 713 KB)
  This article addresses methods that can be used to rapidly estimate internal and external radiation dose magnitudes that can be used to help guide early medical management. Included are quick reference tables and examples of how to apply the mathematical formulas.
• Dose coefficients for intakes of radionuclides via contaminated wounds (.PDF, 3.16 MB)
  This report is intended to assist health physics and medical staff in more rapidly assessing the potential dosimetric consequences of a contaminated wound. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Wound Model describing the retention of selected radionuclides at the site of a contaminated wound and their uptake into the transfer compartment has been combined with the International Commission on Radiological Protection element-specific systemic models for those radionuclides to derive dose coefficients for intakes via contaminated wounds. Examples are also provided on using the dose coefficients to generate derived reference guides and clinical decision guides.
• A compendium of dose estimates for many radiopharmaceuticals (.PDF, 316 KB)
  The dose estimate compendium for adults has been published as NUREG/CR-6345. The dose estimate compendium for children was published as “Internal Dosimetry in Pediatric Nuclear Medicine” (M. Stabin, in Pediatric Nuclear Medicine, S. Treves, ed., Springer-Verlag, 1995).
• A compendium of dose estimates for many radiopharmaceuticals for children (.PDF, 171 KB)
• A compendium of dose estimates for many radiopharmaceuticals for pregnant women (.PDF, 273 KB)
  This compendium includes many compounds often administered to women of childbearing years, and employs, where available, information on the placental crossover of radiopharmaceuticals. The compendium of dose estimates for pregnant women was published originally as the master’s thesis of Joy R. Russell (University of Tennessee, 1995) and has also been published by the Health Physics: The Radiation Safety Journal.
• Guidelines for breastfeeding mothers in nuclear medicine (.PDF, 66 KB)
  The guidelines for breastfeeding mothers are available in USNRC Regulatory Guide 8.39 (.PDF, 398 KB) and NUREG-1492 (Appendix B). 
• Health concerns related to radiation exposure of the female nuclear medicine patient (.PDF, 617 KB)
• Comparative analysis of dosimetry parameters for nuclear medicine (.PDF, 1.15 MB)

Additional resources

The resources listed below are by no means an inclusive list and there are many other valuable resources available.

• Health Physics Society "Ask the Experts"
• Radiation Dose Assessment Resource (RADAR)
• Society of Nuclear Medicine and Imaging (SNMMI)
• ICRP 78 - Individual Monitoring for Internal Exposure of Workers
• ICRP 128 - Radiation Dose to Patients from Radiopharmaceuticals: A Compendium of Current Information Related to Frequently Used Substances
• NCRP 128 - Radionuclide Exposure of the Embryo/Fetus
• NCRP 161 - Management of Persons Contaminated With Radionuclides
• NCRP 174 - Preconception and Prenatal Radiation Exposure: Health Effects and Protective Guidance
• 10CFR35 - Medical Use of Byproduct Material
• NUREG 1556 (Volume 9) - Consolidated Guidance About Materials Licenses