Carcinogenic effect of radiation on the mouse embryo; physical aspects of radiation dosimetry.

The doses received by the embryos from abdominal irradiation of the females at the time of pregnancy may adversely affect the offspring. The dose to the embryo will depend on the depth of the embryo from the surface, the distance of the embryo from the central axis of the beam and on the photon energy. A knowledge of the dose as well as the percentage depth dose in this region will be necessary for the meaningful correlation between the radiation dose and the neoplasm formation due to prenatal irradiation. This paper presents the results of our experimental investigation of the percentage depth doses in a mouse phantom. The results of theoretical computation of percentage depth doses to off-axis points are found to be in good agreement with the experimental values.