Abstract

Chromosome damage is produced by several types of agents, including ionizing radiation. There is a need for rapid measurement of such damage in the event of an accident to assist in the determination of the extent of exposure and the planning of consequent therapy. In current practice, radiation damage is measured by operator-intensive analysis of microscope images of suitably prepared lymphocyte chromosomes from the exposed individual. Some of the features looked for are chromosome breakage, dicentrics (chromosomes with two centromeres), and chromosome translocations (unnatural joining of chromosomes).

© 1992 Optical Society of America