Other Medical Sciences Commons^™

Development Of A Low-Dose Radiation Therapy Device For Acute Respritory Distress Syndrome, Thomas Heath Davis

Masters Theses

This research focuses on the development of a low dose radiotherapy (LD-RT) device for treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a respiratory illness that affects millions of people a year. The use of orthovoltage (200 – 500 keV) X-ray energy provides many advantages over traditional radiotherapy delivery with linear accelerators, such as low cost and greater accessibility. In addition, X-ray tubes have been shown throughout history to provide good treatment outcomes for pneumonia, and research has shown LD-RT to be just as effective with ARDS. This proposal summarizes my efforts in determining the dosimetric properties of a LD-RT system …

The Future Of Nuclear Security: A Medical Physicist’S Perspective, Katharine E. Thomson

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Planning for the future of nuclear security is a vital and complex task, requiring cooperation and contribution from many disciplines and industries. This diversity of expertise should include the medical sector, which faces many of the same challenges as the nuclear industry: controlling access to dangerous material, creating a strong security culture, cooperating with the wider world and engaging the public.

Medical physicists, of which the author is one, oversee all aspects of small-scale radiation use. This paper discusses three key areas increasingly important to both medical and nuclear uses of radioactive materials: public engagement, prevention of nuclear and radiological …