| BETHESDA, Md., March 3, 2008—The Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute will host a two-day workshop for a select group of scientists developing methods to assess and treat military and civilian casualties of partial-body radiation exposure. The May 5–6 workshop will focus on ways to determine a patient’s injury from absorbed dose and dose distribution, the better to prepare for emergencies that might result in mass radiation-exposure casualties.
Because most casualties in urban areas likely will be partial-body exposures, treatment based on whole-body dose assessments may not be appropriate. Rapid diagnostic methods are essential because vital systems such as bone marrow, the gastrointestinal tract and skin are among organs critically affected by radiation.
Researchers from Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States will develop a consensus on the best ways to address specific use of partial-body diagnostic biomarkers in medical management treatment decisions.
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