The radiation converter is a simple tool to convert the radiation units - of absorbed dose and equivalent/effective dose. For the absorbed dose, you can choose between popular units, such as mGy and rads. In the conversion of equivalent dose, you can select standard mSv or rems but also BEDs - banana equivalent dose, which is an informal measure of ionizing radiation exposure. If you are interested in radiation topics, check out our other calculators:
Equivalent dose unitsThe equivalent dose is the measure derived from an absorbed dose. It takes into account biological effectiveness according to radiation energy and its type:
HT = ∑ WR * DT,R
E = ∑ WT × HT
The units are the same as in the equivalent dose because we are multiplying that measure by the dimensionless weighting factor.
How to use radiation converter to change between radiation units?
- Medical radiation calculator - to find out what's the dose you get from medical procedures such as X-ray or CT scan
- Flight radiation calculator, which estimates the cosmic radiation exposure you get during your airplane flight.
- Microgray;
- Milligray;
- Centigray; and
- Rad (CGS unit)
Equivalent dose unitsThe equivalent dose is the measure derived from an absorbed dose. It takes into account biological effectiveness according to radiation energy and its type:
HT = ∑ WR * DT,R
- HT - the equivalent dose in sieverts (Sv) absorbed by tissue T
- DT,R - the absorbed dose in grays (Gy) in tissue T by radiation type R
- WR -the radiation weighting factor, representing the relative biological effectiveness
- Microsievert;
- Millisievert;
- Millirem;
- Rem; and
- Banana equivalent dose.
E = ∑ WT × HT
- E - effective dose to the entire organism; and
- WT - the tissue weighting factor.
The units are the same as in the equivalent dose because we are multiplying that measure by the dimensionless weighting factor.
How to use radiation converter to change between radiation units?
- Check which part of the converter you need. Let's assume you want to convert the effective dose, so choose the bottom part.
- Enter your given value into a proper box. For example, let's take the effective dose of a chest X-ray which is 0.1 mSv.
- The calculator displays the value in two other units. Now you know that 0.1 mSv is equal to 100 µSv and 0.01 rem. Remember that you can select different units from the drop-down list!