- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 33950
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United States Department of Health and Human Services, Radiation Emergency Medical Management
the deposition of unwanted radioactive material on the surfaces of structures, areas, objects, or people where it may be external or internal. (animations of contamination) see also decontamination, incorporation.
Contamination means that radioactive materials in the form of gases, liquids, or solids are released into the environment and contaminate people externally, internally, or both. An external surface of the body, such as the skin, can become contaminated, and if radioactive materials get inside the body through the lungs, gut, or wounds, the contaminant can become deposited internally.
Industry:Medical devices
An area where entry, activities, and exit are controlled to help ensure radiation protection and prevent the spread of contamination.
Industry:Medical devices
Radiation produced in outer space when heavy particles (nuclei of all known natural elements) bombard the earth. See also background radiation, terrestrial radiation.
Industry:Medical devices
The total dose resulting from repeated or continuous exposures of the same portion of the body, or of the whole body, to ionizing radiation. For more information, see “primer on radiation measurement ” from cdc.
Industry:Medical devices
The traditional measure of radioactivity based on the observed decay rate of 1 gram of radium. One curie of radioactive material will have 37 billion disintegrations in 1 second. For more information, see “primer on radiation measurement” from cdc.
Industry:Medical devices
The reduction or removal of radioactive contamination from a structure, object, or person.
Industry:Medical devices
A device that is sensitive to radiation and can produce a response signal suitable for measurement or analysis. A radiation detection instrument.
Industry:Medical devices
A heavy metal. Several isotopes of lead, such as pb-210 which emits beta particles, are in the uranium decay chain.
Industry:Medical devices
A process used to filter and remove white blood cells from whole blood before transfusion. Leukocytes are removed from blood because they provide no benefit to the recipient but may carry bacteria and viruses to the recipient. Patients who receive blood that has not been leuko-reduced may have adverse effects, including fever with chills; alloimmunization, an immune system reaction that can compromise a later transfusion; and the transmission of viruses, including cytomegalovirus, which can be dangerous for low-birth weight infants and to immunosuppressed patients.
Industry:Medical devices
Acute radiation exposure (more than 1,000 rads) to a small, localized part of the body. Most local radiation injuries do not cause death. However, if the exposure is from penetrating radiation (neutrons, x-rays, or gamma rays), internal organs may be damaged and some symptoms of acute radiation syndrome (ars), including death, may occur. Local radiation injury invariably involves skin damage, and a skin graft or other surgery may be required. See also cdc’s fact sheet “acute radiation syndrome” at http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/ars.asp.
Industry:Medical devices
