These detectors can measure the gamma rays emitted by radioactive materials that are in or on the body. A radioactive substance can be selectively taken up by different organs or tissue.

Concepts Of Doses Physical Quantities Protection Quantities
Body radioactivity measurement. Analog devices that measure radioactivity display a scale of counts per minute in intervals of 100. In health physics whole body counting refers to the measurement of radioactivity within the human body. Suppose youre measuring radioactivity and take a reading of 100 cpm. This must not be confused with a whole body monitor which us. Alpha particle decays can also be detected indirectly by their coincident gamma radiation. The technique is primarily applicable to radioactive material that emits gamma rays.
Detect localize identify and measure radioactivity in any scenario from routine monitoring and surveillance to emergency response situations thermo scientific advanced integrated radiation detection and radioactivity measurement instruments mitigate the threat and keep you safe. Dose is generally not uniform over the body. A more sophisticated measure of radiation exposure. By measuring the radiation level around a persons body using a geiger counter a safety officer can approximate that persons absorbed dose. The instrument used is normally referred to as a whole body counter. Radiation can be measured using sensitive detectors in a whole body counter.
In the united states we use roentgen per hour rh or rem per hour remh. If the scale is set to x10 instead of x1 the. E xposure describes the amount of radiation traveling through the air. Setting the scale is a must for meters with analog. The units for exposure are the roentgen r and coulombkilogram ckg. The radiation dose absorbed by a person that is the amount of energy deposited in human tissue by radiation is measured using the conventional unit rad or the si unit gray gy.
Radiation doses are often calculated in the units of rad short for radiation absorbeddose. Ambient radiation levels are reported in gray per hour gyh or sievert per hour svh which are the international units. In certain circumstances beta emitters can be measured but with degraded sensitivity. The units of measure for radioactivity are the curie ci and becquerel bq. The biological risk of exposure to radiation is measured using the conventional unit rem or the si unit sievert sv. One rad is 100 ergsgram in other words 100 ergs of energy absorbed by one gram of a given body tissue.
Many radiation monitors measure exposure. This is defined as the energy imparted to a defined mass of tissue. Different radioactive materials will give off gamma rays of different energies which is one technique to identify the material. Ambient radiation levels measure how much radiation is in the environment around us.