Radiation dose, though it sounds simple, is more complex than a pharmaceutical dose as it canimply a number of different things such as: absorbed dose, dose equivalent, effective doseequivalent, committed dose equivalent, committed effective dose equivalent, or total effectivedose equivalent. Though all of these terms are clinically relevant, they are not all used in thecontext of radiobiology experiments.

In the context of radiobiology experiments, the focus is on absorbed dose, which is the amountof energy absorbed per unit mass of irradiated material. The unit for this is the Gray (Gy).

Why dose in Radiobiology is important

Delivering the correct radiation dose is critically important in radiobiology research. Notdelivering enough radiation dose to a tumor could lead to it not reaching full necrosis, whiledelivering too much radiation dose to healthy tissues could induce radiation toxicity. Either ofthese would lead to a compromised animal or cell data and would not be publishable. It istherefore important that dose is measured accurately, and to have a dosimetry program in place.

References

1. National Research Council (US) Committee on Evaluation of EPA Guidelines for Exposure to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials. Evaluation of Guidelines for Exposures to Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials. Washington (DC):National Academies Press (US); 1999. Appendix, Radiation Quantities and Units,Definitions, Acronyms.

Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230653/