Development of a radiation computation dose model for use in ultraviolet phototherapy

Abstract

The ultimate motivation for this research is to investigate and quantify the nature of ultraviolet radiation for medical application over a variety of skin diseases. While application of both narrow-band and broad-band ultraviolet light have demonstrated great success in the treatment of a multitude of dermatological conditions, over-exposure to this section of the electromagnetic spectrum can be detrimental to human health, and the crux of the issue is striking a balance between maintaining a biologically effective dose while minimizing the impact on the overall health of the patient. Treatment cabins typically consist of a series of ultraviolet emitting lamps surrounded by an array of anodized aluminium reflectors positioned around the lamp to increase the incident dose on the patient in the treatment cabin. Many different factors are important in estimating the patient dose, including the nature of lamp emission, the properties and placement of the reflectors and the position and self-shielding from the patient as well as cabin geometry. Lamp failure can also occur, complicating matters. A dose model that estimates all these factors and quantifies them could be of use in a variety of clinical applications. This research focuses on methods of quantifying these various elements contributing to patient dose, and the creation of a dose model for patients undergoing ultraviolet phototherapy