An Automated Method to Quantify Radiation Damage in Human Blood Cells

Cytogenetic analysis of blood lymphocytes is a well established method to assess the absorbed dose in persons exposed to ionizing radiation. Because mature lymphocytes circulate throughout the body, the dose to these cells is believed to represent the average whole body exposure. Cytogenetic methods measure the incidence of structural aberrations in chromosomes as a means to quantify DNA damage which occurs when ionizing radiation interacts with human tissue. Methods to quantify DNA damage at the chromosomal level vary in complexity and tend to be laborious and time consuming. In a mass casualty scenario involving radiological/nuclear materials, the ability to rapidly triage individuals according to radiation dose is critically important. For high-throughput screening for dicentric chromosomes, many of the data collection steps can be optimized with motorized microscopes coupled to automated slide scanning platforms