Getting the radiation dose correct

Getting the radiation dose correct is of strategic importance for a number of interrelated actors: the manufacturers of radiation equipment and of the specialized computer software that these machines require; the physicists, radiobiologists, specialists in nuclear medicine and experts in dosimetry in the laboratory; the medical physicists, dosimetrists, radiation oncologists, technicians, and health care workers in the medical clinic; and of course, the cancer patients themselves. What is at stake after all is human health. Despite the highly sophisticated medical technologies used in radiation therapy, cancer patients throughout the world continue to receive the wrong radiation doses during their personalized treatments.  Focusing on the International Atomic Energy Agency, the project examines how pertinent historical, epistemological, sociotechnical, and diplomatic issues have historically affected the design of quality assurance and dosimetry practices.