Aligning Efforts to Advance Radiology Sciences for Improved Health Outcomes
We are working hard to share data across science communities, improve radiation dosimetry with deployable technology for soldiers in combat warfare, and foster better mitigation efforts for improved health outcomes due to exposure incidents.
Publications
- Abergel R, Aris J, Bolch WE, et al. The Enduring Legacy of Marie Curie: Impacts of Radium in 21st Century Radiological and Medical Sciences. Int J Radiat Biol. 2022;1-27. doi:10.1080/09553002.2022.2027542
Full List of Authors:
Abstract
Purpose This review is focused on radium and radionuclides in its decay chain in honor of Marie Curie, who discovered this element.
Materials and methods: We conglomerated current knowledge regarding radium and its history predating our present understanding of this radionuclide.
Results: An overview of the properties of radium and its dose assessment is sown followed by discussions about both the negative detrimental and positive therapeutic applications of radium with this history and its evolution reflecting current innovations in medical science. Conclusions: We hope to remind all those who are interested in the progress of science about the vagaries of the process of scientific discovery. In addition, we raise the interesting question of whether Marie Curie’s initial success was in part possible due to her tight alignment with her husband Pierre Curie who pushed the work along.
2. Copeland-Hardin L, Paunesku T, Murley JS, et al. Proof of principle study: synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy for identification of previously radioactive microparticles and elemental mapping of FFPE tissues. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1):7806. Published 2023 May 13. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-34890-6
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Abstract
Biobanks containing formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from animals and human atomic-bomb survivors exposed to radioactive particulates remain a vital resource for understanding the molecular effects of radiation exposure. These samples are often decades old and prepared using harsh fixation processes which limit sample imaging options. Optical imaging of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained tissues may be the only feasible processing option, however, H&E images provide no information about radioactive microparticles or radioactive history. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) is a robust, non-destructive, semi-quantitative technique for elemental mapping and identifying candidate chemical element biomarkers in FFPE tissues. Still, XFM has never been used to uncover distribution of formerly radioactive micro-particulates in FFPE canine specimens collected more than 30 years ago. In this work, we demonstrate the first use of low-, medium-, and high-resolution XFM to generate 2D elemental maps of ~ 35-year-old, canine FFPE lung and lymph node specimens stored in the Northwestern University Radiobiology Archive documenting distribution of formerly radioactive micro-particulates. Additionally, we use XFM to identify individual microparticles and detect daughter products of radioactive decay. The results of this proof-of-principle study support the use of XFM to map chemical element composition in historic FFPE specimens and conduct radioactive micro-particulate forensics.
3. Glasco AD, Snyder LA, Paunesku T, et al. Revisiting the Historic Strontium-90 Ingestion Beagle Study Conducted at the University of California-Davis: Opportunity in Archival Materials. Radiat Res. Published online June 26, 2024. doi:10.1667/RADE-24-000022.1
Abstract
Strontium-90 is a radionuclide found in high concentrations in nuclear reactor waste and nuclear fallout from reactor accidents and atomic bomb explosions. In the 1950s, little was known regarding the health consequences of strontium-90 internalization. To assess the health effects of strontium-90 ingestion in infancy through adolescence, the Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Energy funded large-scale beagle studies at the University of California-Davis. Conducted from 1956 to 1989, the strontium-90 ingestion study followed roughly 460 beagles throughout their lifespans after they were exposed to strontium-90 in utero (through feeding of the mother) and fed strontium-90 feed at varying doses from weaning to age 540 days. The extensive medical data and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues were transferred from UC Davis to the National Radiobiology Archive in 1992 and subsequently to the Northwestern University Radiobiology Archive in 2010. Here, we summarize the design of the strontium-90 ingestion study and give an overview of its most frequent recorded findings. As shown before, radiation-associated neoplasias (osteosarcoma, myeloproliferative syndrome and select squamous cell carcinomas) were almost exclusively observed in the highest dose groups, while the incidence of neoplasias most frequent in controls decreased as dose increased. The occurrence of congestive heart failure in each dose group, not previously assessed by UC Davis researchers, showed a non-significant increase between the controls and lower dose groups that may have been significant had sample sizes been larger. Detailed secondary analyses of these data and samples may uncover health endpoints that were not evaluated by the team that conducted the study.
4. Mate-Kole EM, Dewji SA. Mathematical complexities in radionuclide metabolic modelling: a review of ordinary differential equation kinetics solvers in biokinetic modelling. J Radiol Prot. 2024 May 21;44(2). doi: 10.1088/1361-6498/ad270d. Review. PubMed PMID: 38324906; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11214694.
Abstract
Biokinetic models have been employed in internal dosimetry (ID) to model the human body’s time-dependent retention and excretion of radionuclides. Consequently, biokinetic models have become instrumental in modelling the body burden from biological processes from internalized radionuclides for prospective and retrospective dose assessment. Solutions to biokinetic equations have been modelled as a system of coupled ordinary differential equations (ODEs) representing the time-dependent distribution of materials deposited within the body. In parallel, several mathematical algorithms were developed for solving general kinetic problems, upon which biokinetic solution tools were constructed. This paper provides a comprehensive review of mathematical solving methods adopted by some known internal dose computer codes for modelling the distribution and dosimetry for internal emitters, highlighting the mathematical frameworks, capabilities, and limitations. Further discussion details the mathematical underpinnings of biokinetic solutions in a unique approach paralleling advancements in ID. The capabilities of available mathematical solvers in computational systems were also emphasized. A survey of ODE forms, methods, and solvers was conducted to highlight capabilities for advancing the utilization of modern toolkits in ID. This review is the first of its kind in framing the development of biokinetic solving methods as the juxtaposition of mathematical solving schemes and computational capabilities, highlighting the evolution in biokinetic solving for radiation dose assessment.
5. Wei Y, Dewji SA. A comprehensive review of dose limits, triage systems and measurement tools for consequence management of nuclear and radiological emergencies. Radiat Phys Chem Oxf Engl 1993. 2024 Apr;217. doi: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2024.111533. Epub 2024 Jan 14. PubMed PMID: 38882716; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11170981.
Abstract
During a radiological or nuclear emergency, occupational workers, members of the public, and emergency responders may be exposed to radionuclides, whether external or internal, through inhalation, ingestion, or wounds. In the case of internalized radiation exposure, prompt assessment of contamination is necessary to inform subsequent medical interventions. This review assembles the constituent considerations for managing nuclear and radiological incidents, focused on a parallel analysis of the evolution of radiation dose limits – notably in the emergency preparedness and response realm – alongside a discussion of triage systems and in vivo radionuclide detection tools. The review maps the development of international and national standards and regulations concerning radiation dose limits, illuminating how past incidents and accumulated knowledge have informed present emergency preparedness and response practices, specifically for internalized radiation. Additionally, the objectives and levels of radiation triage systems are explored in-depth, along with a global survey of practices and protocols. Finally, this review also focuses on in vivo detection systems and their capacities for radionuclide identification, prioritizing internalized gamma-emitting isotopes due to their broader relevance. Collectively, this study comprehensively addresses the intricacies of triage management following radiation emergencies, emphasizing the imperative for enhanced standardization and continued research in this critical domain.
6. Mate-Kole EM, Margot D, Dewji SA. Mathematical solutions in internal dose assessment: A comparison of Python-based differential equation solvers in biokinetic modeling. J Radiol Prot. 2023 Oct 30;43(4). doi: 10.1088/1361-6498/ad0409. PubMed PMID: 37848023; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10613827.
Abstract
In biokinetic modeling systems employed for radiation protection, biological retention and excretion have been modeled as a series of discretized compartments representing the organs and tissues of the human body. Fractional retention and excretion in these organ and tissue systems have been mathematically governed by a series of coupled first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The coupled ODE systems comprising the biokinetic models are usually stiff due to the severe difference between rapid and slow transfers between compartments. In this study, the capabilities of solving a complex coupled system of ODEs for biokinetic modeling were evaluated by comparing different Python programming language solvers and solving methods with the motivation of establishing a framework that enables multi-level analysis. The stability of the solvers was analyzed to select the best performers for solving the biokinetic problems. A Python-based linear algebraic method was also explored to examine how the numerical methods deviated from an analytical or semi-analytical method. Results demonstrated that customized implicit methods resulted in an enhanced stable solution for the inhaled60Co (Type M) and131I (Type F) exposure scenarios for the inhalation pathway of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 130 Human Respiratory Tract Model (HRTM). The customized implementation of the Python-based implicit solvers resulted in approximately consistent solutions with the Python-based matrix exponential method (expm). The differences generally observed between the implicit solvers andexpmare attributable to numerical precision and the order of numerical approximation of the numerical solvers. This study provides the first analysis of a list of Python ODE solvers and methods by comparing their usage for solving biokinetic models using the ICRP Publication 130 HRTM and provides a framework for the selection of the most appropriate ODE solvers and methods in Python language to implement for modeling the distribution of internal radioactivity.
Funding for this project is provided by the Department of Defense, award number W81XWH-21-1-0984; Aligning Dosimetry and Biomarkers of Lung Injury with Prophylaxis and Mitigation of Damage from Radionuclides and Metals, and by a grant from the National Institutes of Health NIH/NIAID, award 1P01AI165380-01; Multi-Scale Evaluation and Mitigation of Toxicities Following Internal Radionuclide Contamination.