The role of ICRP in medicine: past, present and future
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The role of ICRP in medicine: past, present and future Colin J. Martin 1 Received: 16 July 2019 / Accepted: 17 July 2019 # IUPESM and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee was established in 1928 in response to concerns about effects of radiation exposure observed in radiologists. By 1950 the field of radiological protection had broadened beyond medical radiology and the committee was renamed the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). ICRP prepares fundamental recommendations on radiological protection that are adopted as the basis for standards, legislation, guidelines, programmes, and practices world-wide. The structure of ICRP consists of a main commission with four sub-committees, number three being established in 1977 to deal with protection in medicine. Task groups working under the direction of the committees prepare reports setting out recommendations and guidance on radiological protection in different areas. ICRP has created protection dose quantities that relate to risk, such as effective dose, that can be used for dose planning and comparison purposes. Committee 3 prepares short, concise reports aimed at specific needs of the medical community to promote accessibility. These give advice relating to many aspects of radiotherapy, diagnostic and interventional radiology, and nuclear medicine. In parallel with this work, modelling of dose distributions has been undertaken to derive coefficients for calculating patient doses from a wide range of radiopharmaceuticals. All ICRP reports over 2 years old will be available free of charge from January 2020 to aid the dissemination of information on radiological protection and help the medical community to adjust to challenges presented by new radiation techniques. Keywords Radiological protection . International commission on radiological protection (ICRP) . Principles of radiation protection . Radiation dose quantities . Effective dose
1 The foundation of radiological protection and the early years of ICRP In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a new type of radiation - x-rays that could blacken photographic film and produce images of bones in the hand. In 1896 Henri Becquerel identified radiation being emitted from salts of uranium linked to radioactivity, and following on from this in 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie isolated radium and began to promote the idea of its use in treating disease. Radiation had burst onto the scene. The public was inspired by x-ray images
This article is part of the Topical Collection on A Sustainable Future for Medical Physics * Colin J. Martin [email protected] 1
Department of Clinical Physics and Bioengineering, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, University of Glasgow, G12 0XH, Glasgow, UK
of the hand and the use of these ionising radiations for medical applications developed rapidly. Unaware of potential risks, professionals working with x-rays used their own hands to check the outputs of their x-ray tu
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