(4)
Definitions. Unless a different meaning is required by the context of a rule,
the terms used in these regulations have the definitions set forth below.
(a) "Accessible surface" means the external
surface of the enclosure or housing provided by the manufacturer.
(b) "Act" means the Radiation Control Act,
Chapter 13 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(c) "Analytical x-ray machine" means any
device, including but not limited to x-ray diffraction, x-ray diffractometry,
and x-ray spectroscopy, which utilizes x-rays to examine the micro-structure of
materials.
(d) "Aperture" means any
opening in the external surface, other than a port, which remains open during
the production of x-rays.
(e)
"Applicant" means the responsible person in authority who applies for
registration of the x-ray machine(s).
(f) "Barrier" means attenuating materials
used to reduce radiation exposure:
1.
"Primary-barrier" is one sufficient to attenuate the useful beam to the
required degree as specified in section
111-8-90-.03 of this
chapter.
2. "Secondary-barrier" is
one sufficient to attenuate the sum of leakage and scattered radiation to the
required degree as specified in section
111-8-90-.03 of this
chapter.
(g)
"Beam-limiting device" or "collimating device" means a device which provides a
means to restrict the dimensions of the x-ray field.
(h) "Beam scattering filter" means a filter
used in order to scatter a beam of electrons.
(i) "Cabinet x-ray machine" means an x-ray
machine with the x-ray tube installed in an enclosure independent of existing
architectural structures except the floor on which it may be placed. The
cabinet x-ray machine is intended to:
1.
contain at least that portion of a material being irradiated;
2. provide radiation attenuation;
and
3. exclude personnel from its
interior during generation of radiation.
Included are all x-ray machines designed primarily for the
inspection of carryon baggage at airline, railroad, and bus terminals, and in
similar facilities. An x-ray tube used within a shielded part of a building, or
x-ray equipment which may temporarily or occasionally incorporate portable
shielding, is not considered a cabinet x-ray machine.
(j) "Calendar quarter" means not
less than 12 consecutive weeks nor more than 14 consecutive weeks. The first
calendar quarter of each year shall begin in January and subsequent calendar
quarters shall be so arranged such that no day is included in more than one
calendar quarter and no day in any one year is omitted from inclusion within a
calendar quarter.
(k) "Certified
machine" means any x-ray machine which has one or more certified component(s)
as specified in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Chapter 1,
Subchapter J, Part 1020.30.
(l)
"Contact therapy machine" means an x-ray machine used for therapy with the
x-ray tube port placed in contact with or within 5 centimeters of the surface
being treated.
(m) "Control panel"
means that part of the x-ray control upon which are mounted the switches,
knobs, push buttons, and other hardware necessary for manually setting the
technique factors.
(n) "Dead-man
switch" means a switch so constructed that a circuit closing contact can be
maintained only by continuous pressure.
(o) "Department" means the Department of
Community Health.
(p) "Diagnostic
type tube housing" means an x-ray tube housing so constructed that the leakage
radiation at a distance of 1 meter from the target cannot exceed 100 mR in 1
hour when the tube is operated at any of its specified ratings.
(q) "Diagnostic x-ray machine" means an x-ray
machine designed for irradiation of any part of the human body for the purpose
of diagnosis or visualization.
(r)
"Disposal" for the purpose of these regulations, means the sale, gift,
transfer, destruction, disassembly or any disposition of a radiation machine or
its parts.
(s) "Dose" as used in
these regulations shall mean absorbed dose or dose equivalent as appropriate.
1. "Absorbed Dose" means energy absorbed per
unit mass of irradiated material at the place of interest. The special unit of
absorbed dose is the Rad (see "Rad") or Gray (see "Gray").
2. "Dose equivalent" is a quantity that
expresses on a common scale for all radiation a measure of the postulated
effect on a given organ. It is defined as the absorbed dose in rads times
certain modifying factors. The unit of dose equivalent is the rem (see "Rem")
or Sievert (see "Sievert").
(t) "Dose monitor unit" means a unit response
from the dose monitoring system from which the absorbed dose can be
calculated.
(u) "Entrance exposure
rate" means the roentgens per unit time at the point where the center of the
useful beam enters the patient.
(v)
"Existing equipment" means therapy machines subject to these regulations which
were manufactured on or before January 1, 1985.
(w) "Exposure" means a measure of the
ionization produced in a given volume of air by X- or gamma radiation. The unit
of exposure is the Roentgen or coulombs/kilogram.
(x) "Exposure rate" means the exposure per
unit of time, i.e., as Roentgens per minute, or mR per hour as measured in air.
(coulombs/kilogram/unit time).
(y)
"External surface" means the outside surface of the cabinet x-ray machine
including the plane across any aperture or port.
(z) "Facility" means the location at which
one or more x-ray machines are installed and/or located within one building,
vehicle, or under one roof and are under the same administrative
control.
(aa) "Failsafe" means a
design feature which causes beam port shutters to close, or otherwise prevents
emergence of the primary beam, upon the failure of a safety or warning
device.
(bb) "Filtration" means
material in the useful beam which preferentially absorbs selected radiations.
1. "Added filtration" means any filtration
which is in addition to the inherent filtration.
2. "Inherent filtration" means the filtration
of the useful beam provided by the permanently installed tube
assembly.
3. "Total Filtration"
means the sum of the added filtration and inherent filtration in the useful
beam.
(cc) "General
purpose radiographic x-ray machine" means any radiographic x-ray machine which,
by design, is not limited to radiographic examination of specific anatomical
regions.
(dd) "Gray" (Gy) means
unit of absorbed dose. One Gy equals 1 Joule of energy deposited in one
kilogram of material. One gray equals one hundred rads.
(ee) "Half-value layer" means the thickness
of specified material which attenuates the beam of radiation so that the
exposure is reduced to one-half of its original value.
(ff) "Healing Arts" means the practice of
medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, osteopathy, podiatry, and
veterinary.
(gg) "High Radiation
Area" means any area, accessible to individuals, in which there exists
radiation at such levels that a major portion of the body could receive in any
one hour a dose in excess of 100 millirems.
(hh) "Human use" means the administration of
radiation to an individual.
(ii)
"Industrial radiography" means the examination of the macroscopic structure of
materials by nondestructive methods using sources of ionizing radiation to
produce radiographic images.
(jj)
"Inspection" means an official examination or observation to be performed by
the Department including but not limited to, tests, surveys, evaluations and
monitoring to determine compliance with rules, regulations, orders,
requirements and conditions of the Department.
(kk) "Irradiation" means the exposure of
matter to ionizing radiation.
(ll)
"Lead equivalent" means the thickness of lead affording the same attenuation,
under specified conditions, as the material in question.
(mm) "Leakage radiation" means radiation
emanating through the diagnostic or therapeutic source assembly except for the
useful beam.
(nn) "Leakage
technique factors" means the technique factors associated with the tube housing
assembly which are used in measuring leakage radiation. They are defined as
follows:
1. For capacitor energy storage
equipment, the maximum-rated peak tube potential and the maximum-rated number
of exposures in an hour for operation at the maximum-rated peak tube potential
with the quantity of charge per exposure being 10 millicoulombs, i.e., 10
millampere seconds, or the minimum obtainable from the unit, whichever is
larger.
2. For field emission
equipment rated for pulsed operation, the maximum-rated peak tube potential and
the maximum-rated number of x-ray pulses in an hour for operation at the
maximum-rated peak tube potential.
3. For all other equipment, the maximum-rated
peak tube potential and the maximum-rated continuous tube current for the
maximum-rated peak tube potential.
(oo) "Light field" means that area of the
intersection of the light beam from the beam-limiting device and one of the set
of planes parallel to and including the plane of the image receptor.
(pp) "New equipment" means x-ray machines
subject to these regulations which were manufactured after January 1,
1985.
(qq) "Occupational dose"
means exposure of an individual to radiation in the course of employment in
which the individual's routine duties involve exposure to radiation.
(rr) "Open beam x-ray installation" means an
installation in which the source and all objects exposed to the radiation
source are within an area designated as a high radiation area.
(ss) "Operator" means that individual
authorized by the registrant to operate the registrant's x-ray
machine(s).
(tt) "Particle
accelerator" means any machine capable of accelerating electrons, protons,
deuterons, or other charged particles in a vacuum and of discharging the
resultant particulate or other radiation into a medium at energies usually in
excess of 1 MeV.
(uu) "Person"
means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust,
estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of
this State, any other State or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any
legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.
(vv) "Personnel monitoring equipment" means
devices (i.e., film badges, pocket dosimeters, and thermo-luminescent
dosimeters) designed to be worn or carried by an individual for the purpose of
estimating the dose received.
(ww)
"Phantom" means a volume of material behaving in a manner similar to tissue
with respect to the attenuation and scattering of radiation.
(xx) "Port" means any opening in the external
surface which is designed to remain open during the production of x-rays for
the purpose of conveying material to be irradiated into or out of the machine
or for partial insertion for irradiation of material whose dimensions do not
permit the insertion of the entire object into the cabinet.
(yy) "Practitioner" means a physician
licensed in Georgia under authority of Chapter 34 of Title 43 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated; a chiropractor licensed in Georgia under authority
of Chapter 9 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated; a
podiatrist licensed in Georgia under authority of Chapter 35 of Title 43 of the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated; a dentist licensed in Georgia under
authority of Chapter 11 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated;
or a veterinarian licensed in Georgia under authority of Chapter 50 of Title 43
of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(zz) "Precertified x-ray systems" means a
diagnostic x-ray machine produced prior to August 1, 1974 as specified in the
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Chapter 1, Subchapter J, Part
1020.30.
(aaa) "Rad" (radiation
absorbed dose) means the unit of absorbed dose. One rad = 100 ergs/gm or .01
Gy.
(bbb) "Radiation" means gamma
rays and x-rays, alpha and beta particles, high speed electrons, neutrons, and
other nuclear particles.
(ccc)
"Radiation area" means any area, accessible to individuals, in which there
exists radiation at such levels that a major portion of the body could receive
in any one hour a dose in excess of 5 millirems, or in any 5 consecutive days a
dose in excess of 100 millirems.
(ddd) "Radiation detector" means a device
which, in the presence of radiation, provides by either direct or indirect
means, a signal or other indication suitable for use in measuring one or more
quantities of incident radiation.
(eee) "Radiation Machine" means any device
that is designed for the controlled production of radiation or nuclear
particles.
(fff) "Radiation
Therapist" shall be defined as a physician who has met the requirements for
certification by the American Board of Radiology in radiation therapy or by the
American Board in general radiology provided that the physician has had two
years or more of additional experience in radiation therapy.
(ggg) "Radiation therapy simulation machine"
means a radiographic or fluoroscopic x-ray machine specifically designed for
localizing the volume to be exposed during radiation therapy and confirming the
position and size of the therapeutic irradiation field.
(hhh) "Registrant" means any user registered
with the Department in accordance with these regulations.
(iii) "Registration" means registration of
the user(s) of x-ray machine(s) with the Department.
(jjj) "Regulations" means the Department of
Health Rules and Regulations for X-Ray, Chapter 111-8-90.
(kkk) "Rem" means a measure of the dose
equivalent of any radiation to body tissue in terms of its estimated biological
effect relative to a dose received from an exposure to one roentgen (R) of
x-rays. For the purpose of these regulations, any of the following is
considered to be equivalent to a dose of one rem:
1. An exposure of 1 R of x-, or gamma
radiation.
2. A dose of 1 rad (.01
Gy) due to x-, gamma, or beta radiation.
3. A dose of 0.05 rad (5 x 10-4 Gy) due to
particles heavier than protons and with sufficient energy to reach the lens of
the eye.
4. A dose of 0.1 rad (1 x
10-3 Gy) due to neutrons or high energy protons.
(lll) "Restricted area" (controlled area)
means any area to which access is controlled by the registrant for purposes of
protection of individuals from exposure to radiation. "Restricted area" shall
not include any areas used for residential quarters, although a separate room
or rooms in a residential building may be set apart as a restricted
area.
(mmm) "Roentgen" (R) means
the special unit of exposure. One roentgen equals 2.58 × 10-4 coulombs/kilogram
of air.
(nnn) "Sale" for the
purpose of these regulations, means any act where a radiation machine is
transferred from one person to another for money or other valuable
consideration.
(ooo) "Scattered
radiation" means radiation that, during passage through matter, has been
deviated in direction.
(ppp)
"Shielded-room radiography" means industrial radiography conducted in a room so
shielded that radiation levels at every location on the exterior meet the
limitations specified in Section .03 of these regulations.
(qqq) "Sievert" (Sv) means a unit of dose
equivalent. One sievert equals 100 rem.
(rrr) "Source" means the focal spot (target)
of the x-ray tube.
(sss)
"Source-image receptor distance" (SID) means the distance from the source to
the center of the input surface of the image receptor.
(ttt) "Spot check" means an abbreviated
calibration procedure which is performed to assure that a previous calibration
continues to be valid.
(uuu)
"Target" means that part of a radiation source which intercepts a beam of
accelerated particles with subsequent emission of other radiation.
(vvv) "Test" means an examination through the
use of instrumentation, visual inspection, interviews with individuals, and
checks of various devices used in connection with radiation generating
equipment to determine compliance with a regulatory requirement.
(www) "Therapy radiation" means the use of an
ionizing radiation source for the purpose of treatment.
(xxx) "Traceable to a national standard"
means that a quantity or a measurement has been compared to a national standard
directly or indirectly through one or more intermediate steps and that all
comparisons have been documented.
(yyy) "Transfer" for the purpose of these
regulations, means the disposing of a radiation machine by any means including,
but not limited to gift, sale, bailment, loan or lease.
(zzz) "Unrestricted area" (uncontrolled area)
means any area to which access is not directly controlled by the registrant for
purposes of protection of individuals from exposure to radiation.
(aaaa) "Unwanted by-product" means ionizing
radiation generated by an apparatus whose primary function and design is not
intended to produce ionizing radiation.
(bbbb) "Useful beam" means the radiation
which passes through the tube housing port and the aperture of the
beam-limiting device when the exposure switch or timer is activated.
(cccc) "User" means any person who possesses
a radiation machine which is utilized for the administration of
radiation.
(dddd) "Virtual source"
means a point from which radiation appears to originate.
(eeee) "X-Ray machine" for the purposes of
these regulations means a radiation machine designed for the controlled
production of x-rays.