Myriad radiation effects, including benefits and detriments, complicate justifying and optimizing radiation exposures. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework and corresponding quantitative methods to aggregate the detriments and benefits of radiation exposures to individuals, groups, and populations. In this study, concepts from the ICRP for low dose were integrated with clinical techniques focused on high dose to develop a comprehensive figure of merit (FOM) that takes into account arbitrary host- and exposure-related factors, endpoints, and time points. The study built on existing methods with three new capabilities: application to individuals, groups, and populations; extension to arbitrary numbers and types of endpoints; and inclusion of limitation, where relevant. The FOM was applied to three illustrative exposure situations: emergency response, diagnostic imaging, and cancer radiotherapy, to evaluate its utility in diverse settings. The example application to radiation protection revealed the FOM’s utility in optimizing the benefits and risks to a population while keeping individual exposures below applicable regulatory limits. Examples in diagnostic imaging and cancer radiotherapy demonstrated the FOM’s utility for guiding population- and patient-specific decisions in medical applications. The major finding of this work is that it is possible to quantitatively combine the benefits and detriments of any radiation exposure situation involving an individual or population to perform cost-effectiveness analyses using the ICRP key principles of radiation protection. This FOM fills a chronic gap in the application of radiation-protection theory, i.e., limitations of generalized frameworks to algorithmically justify and optimize radiation exposures. This new framework potentially enhances objective optimization and justification, especially in complex exposure situations.

无数的辐射效应，包括收益和损害，使证明和优化辐射暴露变得复杂。这项研究的目的是建立一个综合的概念框架和相应的定量方法，以汇总辐射对个人，群体和人群的危害和益处。在这项研究中，将ICRP的低剂量概念与针对高剂量的临床技术相结合，以开发出综合的品质因数（FOM），并考虑到与宿主和暴露相关的任意因素，终点和时间点。该研究建立在具有三种新功能的现有方法的基础上：适用于个人，群体和人群；扩展到任意数量和类型的端点；并在相关时加入限制。将FOM应用于三种示例性暴露情况：应急响应，诊断成像和癌症放疗，以评估其在各种环境中的效用。辐射防护的示例应用程序显示了FOM在优化人群的利益和风险的同时，将个人暴露量保持在适用法规限制以下的效用。诊断成像和癌症放射治疗的实例证明了FOM的实用程序，可指导医疗应用中针对特定人群和患者的决策。这项工作的主要发现是，可以使用ICRP辐射防护的关键原则，将涉及个人或人群的任何辐射暴露情况的数量和收益进行定量组合，以进行成本效益分析。该FOM填补了辐射防护理论应用中的一个长期空白，即，在理论上证明和优化辐射暴露的通用框架的局限性。这个新的框架有可能增强目标的优化和合理性，尤其是在复杂的曝光情况下。