The Röntgen equivalent physical or rep (symbol rep) is a legacy unit of absorbed dose first introduced by Herbert Parker in 1945 to replace an improper application of the roentgen unit to biological tissue. It is the absorbed energetic dose before the biological efficiency of the radiation is factored in. The rep has variously been defined as 83 or 93 ergs per gram of tissue (8.3/9.3 mGy) or per cm of tissue.