Fundamentals of Radiation Dosimetry

The basic concepts of radiation dosimetry are reviewed on basis of ICRU reports and text books. The radiation field is described with, among others, the particle fluence. Cross sections for indirectly ionizing radiation are defined and indicated is how they are related to the mass energy transfer and mass energy absorption coefficients. Definitions of total and restricted mass stopping powers of directly ionizing radiation are given. The dosimetric quantities, kerma, absorbed dose and exposure together with the relations between them are discussed in depth. Finally it is indicated how the absorbed dose can be measured with a calorimeter by measuring the temperature increase and with an ionisation chamber measuring the charge produced by the ionizing radiation and making use of the Bragg-Gray relation.