Non-invasive determination of the irradiation dose in fingers using low-frequency EPR.

Several reports in the literature have described the effects of radiation in workers who exposed their fingers to intense radioactive sources. The radiation injuries occurring after local exposure to a high dose (20 to 100 Gy) could lead to the need for amputation. Follow-up of victims needs to be more rational with a precise knowledge of the irradiated area that risks tissue degradation and necrosis. It has been described previously that X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy could be used to assess the dose in irradiated amputated fingers. Here, we propose the use of low-frequency EPR spectroscopy to evaluate non-invasively the absorbed dose. Low-frequency microwaves are indeed less absorbed by water and penetrate more deeply into living material (approximately 10 mm in tissues using 1 GHz spectrometers). This work presents preliminary results obtained with baboon and human fingers compared with human dry phalanxes placed inside a surface-coil resonator. The EPR signal increased linearly with the dose. The ratio of the slopes of the dry bone to whole finger linear regression lines was around 5. The detection limit achievable with the present spectrometer and resonator is around 60 Gy, which is well within the range of accidentally exposed fingers. It is likely that the detection limit could be improved in the future, thanks to further technical spectrometer and resonator developments as well as to appropriate spectrum deconvolution into native and dosimetric signals.

Retrospective dosimetry after criticality accidents using low-frequency EPR: a study of whole human teeth irradiated in a mixed neutron and gamma-radiation field.

In the context of accidental or intentional radiation exposures (nuclear terrorism), it is essential to separate rapidly those individuals with substantial exposures from those with exposures that do not constitute an immediate threat to health. Low-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy provides the potential advantage of making accurate and sensitive measurements of absorbed radiation dose in teeth without removing the teeth from the potential victims. Up to now, most studies focused on the dose-response curves obtained for gamma radiation. In radiation accidents, however, the contribution of neutrons to the total radiation dose should not be neglected. To determine how neutrons contribute to the apparent dose estimated by EPR dosimetry, extracted whole human teeth were irradiated at the SILENE reactor in a mixed neutron and gamma-radiation field simulating criticality accidents. The teeth were irradiated in free air as well as in a paraffin head phantom. Lead screens were also used to eliminate to a large extent the contribution of the gamma radiation to the dose received by the teeth. The EPR signals, obtained with a low-frequency (1.2 GHz) spectrometer, were compared to dosimetry measurements at the same location. The contribution of neutrons to the EPR dosimetric signal was negligible in the range of 0 to 10 Gy and was rather small (neutron/gamma-ray sensitivity in the range 0-0.2) at higher doses. This indicates that the method essentially provides information on the dose received from the gamma-ray component of the radiation.