Healthy Living: Measuring radiation exposure
The latest battle in the war on terror isn’t being fought overseas, it’s being fought in the lab. The University of Rochester Medical Center is one of only nine institutions that have received a $3.9 million one-year contract, with options to increase to a total of $42 million over the next four years, to develop a simple, quick blood test to measure radiation exposure after an act of terrorism.
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“And this could be either a nuclear explosive device or a dirty bomb,” said Dr. Bruce Fenton.
It’s the worst case scenario. A radioactive or biological weapon detonated on U.S. soil.
“The main concern is that there’s going to be some kind of terrorist attack,” Fenton said.
High levels of ionizing radiation can be lethal, especially when the entire body is exposed. If the bone marrow is irradiated, it destroys the body’s ability to produce infection fighting white blood cells.
During the first four to 48 hours after exposure, cells die rapidly and spill DNA into the bloodstream. Right now these traces of DNA can only be measured in a lab. And it takes hours to get the results back. The goal is to replace the big bulky equipment in the lab with a small handheld device capable of detecting levels of radiation exposure by pricking a patient’s finger.
“A single drop of blood. And we want to be able to come up with a measurement in about 15 minutes,” said Fenton.
Imagine a situation where emergency responders have thousands of victims. And need to determine how many have radiation poisoning.
“I think for weapons of mass destruction or anything that’s biological or radiologic in nature this would be a great tool. Get these patients treated quickly and be able to determine if they have a contamination quickly. And it will protect us,” said LaShay Harris of Rural Metro Ambulance.
With $42 million in government money on the line, Fenton says this is also a competition to see who can come up with the best prototype first. It’s a race we all have a stake in.
"If this explodes in a major metropolitan area you’re going to have hundreds of thousands of victims,” Fenton said.