A radiation meter is used to measure radioactivity.
Beta emitting isotopes, such as C-14, P-32, P-33, and S-35, are best detected with a Geiger-Mueller counter (GM).
Gamma emitting isotopes, such as I-125, I-123, I-131, and Tc-99m are easily detected with a gamma meter equipped with a sodium iodide (NaI) probe.
An isotope that cannot be detected with most survey meters, unless present in large activities, is tritium (H-3). Tritium emits beta particles with energies insufficient to enter the sensitive volume of most detectors.

The x-ray (or roentgen-ray) spectrum consists of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than ultraviolet (UV) and longer than gamma rays. The usual photon energies of x-rays range from 100 electron volt (eV) to 100 keV (wavelengths of around 10 to 0.01 nanometers; or around 100 to 0.1 Angstroms); corresponding to frequencies in the range of 30 PHz to 30 EHz (see Hertz).
The energy distribution (wavelength, frequency) of x-ray photons emerges from the source, the x-ray tube. In a conventional tube, x-rays are generated in two different ways that, together, form a typical spectrum consisting of the bremsstrahlung, which is superimposed by the lines of the characteristic spectrum (in a graph, the curve is shaped like a hump topped by several spikes).

See also Angstrom, Direct Radiation, Secondary Radiation, and Radiation Meter.

The absorbed dose is the average energy absorbed per unit mass.

The tissue absorbed energy in a small mass volume:
D = (dW/dm) [ Gy ]
D = absorbed dose in Gray (Gy); dW = in the tissue energy absorbed; DM = small volume of the mass.

The SI unit of absorbed dose is the joule per kilogram and its special name is the gray (Gy). In units often used by federal and state agencies, absorbed dose is given in rad; 1 rad = 0.01 Gy.

Absorbed dose is a feature that should increase dose awareness and help users in dose optimization. Absorbed dose in CT is quoted using the CTDI (computed tomography dose index)

CTDIvol (volume-averaged CT dose index) and the dose-length product (DLP) give an indication of the average absorbed dose and relative radiation risk to a standard patient. The user is being warned to scan parameter settings that may lead to high doses, and can adjust the protocol if appropriate. It should be noted that CTDIvol and DLP do not take patient size into account, and will give overestimates and underestimates for large and small patients, respectively.

(NAA) Neutron activation analysis is a very sensitive analytical technique to determine even very low concentration of chemical elements, trace elements for example, in small biological samples.
NAA becomes commercial available in the USA in 1960.
In the activation process stable nuclides in the sample, which is placed in a neutron beam (neutron flux, 90-95% are thermal neutron with low energy levels under 0.5 eV), will change to radioactive nuclides through neutron capture (artificial radioactivity). These radioactive nuclides decay by emitting alpha-, beta-particles and gamma-rays with a unique half-life. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sample is done with a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer.
NAA is subdivided into the following techniques:

(Radioactive Seed Implantation Therapy) Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy in which a sealed source (encapsulated radionuclide) is placed inside the patient as close as possible to the area being treated. The brachytherapy source delivers usually gamma or beta radiation at a distance up to a few centimeters either by surface, intracavitary or interstitial application.

See also Low Dose Rate, Cryotherapy, RF Thermal Ablation and Prostate Ultrasound.