(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.