ABOUT THE RADIATION DOSIMETRY AND MEDICAL PHYSICS GROUP

The Department of Nuclear Physics was a pioneer at IFUSP in setting up a research group in Applied Physics in the 70s. This group introduced Thermoluminescent Dosimetry in the country, and continues to lead this area nationally. Applications in the area of ​​Medical Physics in Brazil began in 1969, through the course on Radiation Physics in the undergraduate course of the Bachelor of Physics at IFUSP. During the last four decades, this area has developed and modernized, with the acquisition of state-of-the-art instrumentation and incorporation of new skills, through collaborations, partnerships and specialization of professors and technical staff.

The DFN's Radiation Dosimetry and Medical Physics Group (GDRFM) works in different areas of research on the frontier of Medical Physics:

• Development of dosimetric materials;
• Dosimetry techniques applied to computed tomography and mammography;
• X-ray spectrometry applied to diagnostic imaging;
• Development of radiologically equivalent materials for radiological protection applications;
• Quality control and dosimetry techniques applied in diagnostic imaging modalities.

In addition to the group's research activities, two important university extension contributions stand out: the External Individual Monitoring Service (SMIE) and the Quality Assurance Program (PGQ). The SMIE has been monitoring individual and area ionizing radiation since 1981. Currently, approximately 500 trunk and 50 pulse monitors are routinely processed. They consist of detectors based on thermoluminescent (TL) dosimetry for external radiation that, by individual monitoring, represent the total body dose received by workers. The main users belong to the Institutes of Chemistry, Physics and Biomedicine, the Veterinary Hospital and the University Hospital of USP. The Service is accredited by the Research and Calibration Services Evaluation Committee of the Testing and Calibration Services Evaluation Committee (CASEC), specially designated for this purpose by the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN).

The Quality Assurance Program, on the other hand, consists of applying methodologies for evaluating the quality of images and measuring doses, which make it possible to identify whether diagnostic imaging equipment is being used properly and safely by clinics and hospitals. This methodology was developed and refined by the GDRFM and serves as a model for other similar programs distributed across the country. Currently, the methodology is applied at the Institute of Radiology at Hospital das Clínicas (INRAD) and at the Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo (ICESP), both linked to the Faculty of Medicine of USP. These institutions have also been partners in several GDRFM research projects.

In terms of infrastructure, the GDRFM maintains two facilities: the Dosimetry Laboratory, where part of the group's experimental facilities are located, such as thermoluminescent and optically stimulated dosimeter readers; and the Fontes Building, which is also part of the infrastructure for guarding and preserving the group's instrumentation. In this building there are several radioactive sources that are used, mainly, in the calibration of dosimeters used in SMI and X-ray equipment in research projects of materials equivalent to tissues and dosimetric materials.

Finally, the training of higher education personnel in areas associated with Medical Physics is quite active at the GDRFM, with the training of dozens of masters and doctors in related areas. GDRFM professors teach disciplines that encourage the training of professionals, such as Radiation Physics, Human Body Physics, Biological Effects of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation, among others. Also in the area of ​​human resources training, the GDRFM is co-responsible for the Medical Physics Residency Program in the diagnostic imaging modality, which offers two annual places of theoretical and practical training, in accordance with the Ministry of Health regulations for training of specialized personnel to work as Medical Physicists in hospitals.