Lars Herrnsdorf

A method to characterize the radiation output from a cone beam O-arm using a device for dose and dose profile scanning measurement

The O-arm system is a mobile intraoperative imaging system that is comprised of fluoroscopy and cone beam CT. The configuration of the O-arm system with absence of patient table and a broad beam width (165 mm in isocenter) brings new practical and physical requirements on how to perform dose measurements. The purpose of this study was to describe a method that overcomes this and makes it possible to characterize the radiation output from the O-arm system. A holder with a clamp and a flexible ball joint that can orientate the radiation detector support and the Mover that can be adjusted to hold the dose detector in a horizontal position was used. Evaluation of the dose response for three different dose detectors of different active length (0.3, 23.1 and 100 mm) was made for three different beam qualities. Furthermore the dose profile free in air to control the possible heel effect and width of the x-ray field during rotation was measured and the dose rate waveform was analyzed. The FWHM of the dose profile was 162 mm. The dose response of the three detectors is reported. The average dose response was lower for the detector with longer active length due to the influence of the dose profile shape. From dynamic measurement total exposure time, pulse width, and the number of pulses were verified. In conclusion, an external horizontal hanging holder with mover option helps to assist to make dose measurement easier and enables characterize the radiation output from the O-arm system.

Measurement of the sensitive profile in a solid state silicon detector, irradiated by X-rays

A newly constructed solid state silicon dose profile detector is characterized concerning its sensitive profile. The use of the MEDIPIX2 sensor system displays an excellent method to align an image of an X-ray slit to a sample under test. The scanning from front to reverse side of the detector, show a decrease in sensitivity of 20%, which indicates a minority charge carrier lifetime of 0.18 ms and a diffusion length of 460 μm. The influence of diced edges results in a volumetric efficiency of 59%, an active volume of 1.2 mm2 of total 2.1 mm2.

CAN AN ENERGY-COMPENSATED SOLID-STATE X-RAY DETECTOR BE USED FOR RADIATION PROTECTION APPLICATIONS AT HIGHER PHOTON ENERGIES?

The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of a solid-state detector commonly available at hospitals for parallel use as a real-time personal radiation monitor following radiation emergency situations. A solid-state detector probe with an inherent filtration (R100, RTI Electronics AB, Mölndal, Sweden) was chosen for evaluation. The energy dependence and the linearity in signal response with kerma in air were examined, and the detector was exposed to both X-ray beams using a conventional X-ray unit with effective photon energies ranging between 28.5 and 48.9 keV and to gamma rays 1.17 and 1.33 MeV from (60)Co. The R100 exhibited ∼1.7 times over-response at the lowest X-ray energy relative to the (60)Co source. The detector demonstrated a linear response (R(2) = 1) when irradiated with (60)Co to air kerma values in the range of 20-200 mGy. The conclusion is that high-energy photons such as those from (60)Co can be detected by the R100 with an energy response within a factor of <2 over the energy range examined and that the detector can provide real-time dose measurements following nuclear or radiological events.

SILICON PHOTOMULTIPLIERS FOR MEDICAL IMAGING AND DOSIMETRY-AN OVERVIEW.

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are an enabling solid-state technology for low light sensing, with single photon sensitivity and photon number resolving capability. They feature an extremely high internal gain at the 10(6) level, comparable to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), with the advantage of low operating voltage (~50 V compared to ~1000 V for PMT) and low energy consumption. The solid-state technology makes SiPMs compact, insensitive to magnetic fields and with an extreme flexibility in the design to cope with different applications. The fast development of the multiplication avalanche opens up the possibility to achieve time resolution at the 30 ps level. Dynamic range is however limited compared to PMT and the dark count rate relatively high, yet today at the level of 50 kHz/mm(2) at room temperature. Interfaced with scintillation material, SiPMs provide a powerful platform for medical imaging applications (in positron emission tomography/computed tomography and in positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance), for X-ray quality control as well as for novel compact radiation protection instruments. This article gives an overview of SiPMs for medical imaging and dosimetry. In addition, a learning and training program targeted to graduate students is described.

BEAM QUALITY CORRECTION FACTORS FOR KAP METERS FOR LIGHTLY AND HEAVILY FILTERED X-RAY BEAMS

Kerma-area product (KAP) meters have a pronounced energy dependence when measuring air KAP for lightly filtered X-ray beams (RQR). Today, it is also common with more heavily filtered beams. In this work, the energy dependence for lightly as well as heavily filtered beams (RQC) was investigated for several KAP meter models. The relative energy dependence of the readings of an external and an internal KAP meter was determined relative to an ionisation chamber, which had been calibrated at the primary standards laboratory. As a complement to the measurements, the sensitivity of a KAP meter for various X-ray beam qualities was modelled using Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport and absorption. The result showed a variation in relative energy dependence of up to 30 % for KAP meters for RQC beam qualities compared with RQR qualities. A reduced sensitivity of KAP meters for heavily filtered beams in comparison with lightly filtered ones was found, and it is important that the beam-specific radiation quality correction factors are applied to correct the registered KAP values.

SILICON DIODE AS AN ALPHA PARTICLE DETECTOR AND SPECTROMETER FOR DIRECT FIELD MEASUREMENTS

A windowless silicon (Si) diode (4 mm(2)) was evaluated as alpha particle detector and spectrometer for field measurements. It was irradiated with alpha particles from a (241)Am (2.3 kBq) and a (210)Po (9 kBq) source at source-detector distances (SDD) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.8 cm. The energy resolution in terms of full width at half maximum was 281, 148 and 113 keV for SDD of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.8 cm, respectively. The minimum detectable activity increased from 0.08 to 0.83 Bq when the SDD increased from 0.5 to 1.8 cm. The detector has the potential for several alpha spectrometric applications, such as monitoring for wound, skin and surface contamination at nuclear fuel facilities, nuclear power plants and facilities handling radioactive waste. Other areas are environmental surveys following releases of actinides at accidents in nuclear power plants and in connection with other radiological or nuclear scenarios.