Abstract
In the event of a large-scale radiological emergency, the triage of individuals according to their degree of exposure forms an important initial step of the accident management. Although clinical signs and symptoms of a serious exposure may be used for radiological triage, they are not necessarily radiation specific and can lead to a false diagnosis. Biodosimetry is a method based on the analysis of radiation-induced changes in cells of the human body or in portable electronic devices and enables the unequivocal identification of exposed people who should receive medical treatment. The MULTIBIODOSE (MBD) consortium developed and validated several biodosimetric assays and adapted and tested them as tools for biological dose assessment in a mass-casualty event. Different biodosimetric assays were validated against the 'gold standard' of biological dosimetry-the dicentric assay. The assays were harmonised in such a way that, in an emergency situation, they can be run in parallel in a network of European laboratories. The aim of this guidance is to give a concise overview of the developed biodosimetric tools as well as how and when they can be used in an emergency situation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 165-169 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Radiation Protection Dosimetry |
Volume | 164 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the European Union within the 7th Framework Programme, theme SECURITY (grant agreement no 241536).
Funding Information:
One such concept was developed in the MULTIBIODOSE (multi-disciplinary biodosimetric tools to manage high-scale radiological casualties) project, www.multibiodose.eu. This capability project was funded by the European Commission under the theme SECURITY and was completed in 2013. The main goal of the project was to adapt a variety of biodosimetric tools to mass-casualty scenarios and to use them in a concerted way by using common software to integrate and report dose estimates. At the end of the project, a network of laboratories was created that are able to cope with dose assessment in case of a high number of potentially exposed people.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2014.