• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.39-49
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• 2022

Background: For proper monitoring of the eye lens dose, an appropriate calibration factor of a dosimeter and information about the mean energies of X-rays are indispensable. The scattered X-ray energy spectra should be well characterized in medical practices where eye lenses of medical staffs might be high. Materials and Methods: Scattered X-ray energy spectra were experimentally derived for three different types of X-ray diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, i.e., the computed tomography (CT) scan, the angiography and the fluoroscopy. A commercially available CdZnTe (CZT) spectrometer with a lead collimator was employed for the measurement of scattered X-rays, which was performed in the usual manner. Results and Discussion: From the obtained energy spectra, the mean energies of the scattered X-rays lied between 40 and 60 keV. This also agreed with that obtained by the conventional half value layer method. Conclusion: The scattered X-rays to which medical workers may be exposed in the region around the eyes were characterized by means of spectrometry. The obtained mean energies of the scattered X-rays were found to match the flat region of the dosimeter response.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.137-142
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• 2018

Background: Gamma-ray detectors having a thin window of a material with low atomic number can increase the true coincidence summing effects for radionuclides emitting X-rays or gamma-rays. This effect can make efficiency calibration or spectrum analysis more complicated. In this study, a Cu shield was tested as an X-ray filter to neglect the true coincidence summing effect by X-rays and gamma-rays in gamma-ray spectrometry, in order to simplify gamma-ray energy spectrum analysis. Materials and Methods: A Cu shield was designed and applied to an n-type high-purity germanium detector having an $X-{\gamma}$ summing effect during efficiency calibration. This was tested using a commercial, certified mixed gamma-ray source. The feasibility of a Cu shield was evaluated by comparing efficiency calibration results with and without the shield. Results and Discussion: In this study, the thickness of a Cu shield needed to avoid true coincidence summing effects due to $X-{\gamma}$ was tested and determined to be 1 mm, considering the detection efficiency desired for higher energy. As a result, the accuracy of the detection efficiency calibration was improved by more than 13% by reducing $X-{\gamma}$ summing. Conclusion: The $X-{\gamma}$ summing effect should be considered, along with ${\gamma}-{\gamma}$ summing, when a detection efficiency calibration is implemented and appropriate shielding material can be useful for simplifying analysis of the gamma-ray energy spectra.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.106-111
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• 2021

Background: Crookes tube is utilized in junior high and high schools in Japan to study the character of electrons and current, and not for radiological education. There is no official guideline or regulation for these radiation source to the public. Therefore, most teachers have no information about the leakage of X-rays from Crookes tube. The peak energy of X-rays is approximately 20 keV, and it is impossible to measure using conventional survey meters. Materials and Methods: Each leakage dose of low energy X-rays from 38 Crookes tube in the education field, such as junior and senior high schools in Japan, was explored by the teachers in the school using radio-photoluminescence (RPL) dosimeters. Before and after the measurements, the dosimeters were sent by postal mails. Results and Discussion: At the exploration in this study, it was estimated that the 70 ㎛ dose equivalent, H_p(0.07) of X-rays from 31 Crookes tubes were smaller than 100 µSv in 10 minutes, at the distance of 1 m, where the Crookes tube was usually observed. However, the highest dose was estimated as 0.69 mSv by an equipment with the full power. Furthermore, one Crookes tube exhibited 0.62 mSv with minimum output power of the induction coil. This relatively large dose was reduced by the shorter distance of discharge electrodes of the induction coil. Conclusion: The leakage dose of low energy X-rays from 38 Crookes tube was explored using RPL dosimeters. It was estimated that the H_p(0.07) of X-rays from 31 Crookes tubes were smaller than 100 µSv in 10 minutes at the distance of 1 m, while some equipment radiated a higher dose. With this study, the provisional guideline for the safety operation of Crookes tube is established.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.229-236
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• 2016

Background: In order to manage the patient exposure dose in X-ray diagnosis, it is preferred to evaluate the entrance skin dose; although there are some evaluations about entrance skin dose, a small number of report has been published for direct measurement of patient. We think that a small-type optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeter, named nanoDot, can achieve a direct measurement. For evaluations, the corrections of angular and energy dependences play an important role. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the angular and the energy dependences of nanoDot. Materials and Methods: We used commercially available X-ray diagnostic equipment. For angular dependence measurement, a relative response of every 15 degrees of nanoDot was measured in 40-140 kV X-ray. And for energy dependence measurement, mono-energetic characteristic X-rays were generated using several materials by irradiating the diagnostic X-rays, and the nanoDot was irradiated by the characteristic X-rays. We evaluated the measured response in an energy range of 8.1-75.5 keV. In addition, we performed Monte-Carlo simulation to compare experimental results. Results and Discussion: The experimental results were in good agreement with those of Monte-Carlo simulation. The angular dependence of nanoDot was almost steady with the response of 0 degrees except for 90 and 270 degrees. Furthermore, we found that difference of the response of nanoDot, where the nanoDot was irradiated from the randomly set directions, was estimated to be at most 5%. On the other hand, the response of nanoDot varies with the energy of incident X-rays; slightly increased to 20 keV and gradually decreased to 80 keV. These results are valuable to perform the precise evaluation of entrance skin dose with nanoDot in X-ray diagnosis. Conclusion: The influence of angular dependence and energy dependence in X-ray diagnosis is not so large, and the nanoDot OSL dosimeter is considered to be suitable dosimeter for direct measurement of entrance surface dose of patient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권6호
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• pp.937-943
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• 2018

Background: This work presents the performance of a novel electronic brachytherapy (EBT) device and radiotherapy (RT) experiments on both skin cancer cells and animals using the device. Methods and materials: The performance of the EBT device was evaluated by measuring and analyzing the dosimetric characteristics of X-rays generated from the device. The apoptosis of skin cancer cells was analyzed using B16F10 melanoma cancer cells. Animal experiments were performed using C57BL/6 mice. Results: The X-ray characteristics of the EBT device satisfied the accepted tolerance level for RT. The results of the RT experiments on the skin cancer cells show that a significant apoptosis induction occurred after irradiation with 50 kVp X-rays generated from the EBT device. Furthermore, the results of the animal RT experiments demonstrate that the superficial X-rays significantly delay the tumor growth and that the tumor growth delay induced by irradiation with low-energy X-rays was almost the same as that induced by irradiation with a high-energy electron beam. Conclusions: The developed new EBT device has almost the same therapeutic effect on the skin cancer with a conventional linear accelerator. Consequently, the EBT device can be practically used for human skin cancer treatment in the near future.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.167-174
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• 2023

Background: A nondestructive test is commonly used to inspect the surface defects and internal structure of an object without any physical damage. X-rays generated from an electron accelerator or a tube are one of the methods used for nondestructive testing. The high penetration of X-rays through materials with low atomic numbers makes it difficult to discriminate between these materials using X-ray imaging. The interaction characteristics of neutrons with materials can supplement the limitations of X-ray imaging in material discrimination. Materials and Methods: The radiation image acquisition process for air-cargo security inspection equipment using X-rays and neutrons was simulated using a GEometry ANd Tracking (Geant4) simulation toolkit. Radiation images of phantoms composed of 13 materials were obtained, and the R-value, representing the attenuation ratio of neutrons and gamma rays in a material, was calculated from these images. Results and Discussion: The R-values were calculated from the simulated X-ray and neutron images for each phantom and compared with those obtained in the experiments. The R-values obtained from the experiments were higher than those obtained from the simulations. The difference can be due to the following two causes. The first reason is that there are various facilities or equipment in the experimental environment that scatter neutrons, unlike the simulation. The other is the difference in the neutron signal processing. In the simulation, the neutron signal is the sum of the number of neutrons entering the detector. However, in the experiment, the neutron signal was obtained by superimposing the intensities of the neutron signals. Neutron detectors also detect gamma rays, and the neutron signal cannot be clearly distinguished in the process of separating the two types of radiation. Despite these differences, the two results showed similar trends and the viability of using simulation-based radiation images, particularly in the field of security screening. With further research, the simulation-based radiation images can replace ones from experiments and be used in the related fields. Conclusion: The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has developed air-cargo security inspection equipment using neutrons and X-rays. Using this equipment, radiation images and R-values for various materials were obtained. The equipment was reconstructed, and the R-values were obtained for 13 materials using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The R-values calculated by experiment and simulation show similar trends. Therefore, we confirmed the feasibility of using the simulation-based radiation image.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제16권7호
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• pp.455-459
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• 2006

Coincidence Doppler Broadening (CDB) of positron annihilation spectroscopy was applied to analyze defects in the chemical state of Department of Physics, $Gd_2O_2S$:Tb intensifying screens. The screen samples were irradiated by 80 MV X-rays in hospital and were used for 0, 2, 4, and 6 years respectively. There was a positive relationship between the S-parameter values and time of exposure to X-rays. Most of the defects were indicated to have been generated by X-rays. A 1D CDB was developed in order to reduce the background noise, and the S-parameter values of the $Gd_2O_2S$:Tb intensifying screens, using the 1D CDB, varied between 0.4974 and 0.4991.

• 한국항공우주학회지
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• 제39권11호
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• pp.995-1004
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• 2011

Overset 격자계에서 사용되는 Object X-rays Method는 홀점 탐색의 일부인 교차점 탐색에 복잡한 벡터계산을 사용하고 개별 배경격자점에 대하여 물체 내외부를 판별하여 홀점을 탐색하므로 많은 시간이 소요된다. 특히 격자의 상대운동이 있을 경우 매 시간간격 마다 홀점 탐색을 수행해야 하므로 계산 시간이 가중된다. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 본 연구에서는 홀점 탐색시간을 줄일 수 있는 효율적인 탐색 알고리즘을 제안한다. 빠른 탐색을 위해 격자점 수가 줄어든 가상의 표면을 사용하고 복잡한 벡터계산을 통한 교차점 탐색 대신 논리연산자를 사용하는 내외부 판별법을 사용하였다. 또한 개별 배경격자점에 대해 홀점 판별을 수행하는 대신 일괄로 홀점을 지정하여 탐색속도를 향상시켰다. 물체의 상대운동이 있을 경우 가상의 표면이 상대 운동하여 기존 방법에 비해서 홀점 탐색시간을 감소시킬 수 있었다. 임의의 2차원, 3차원 형상에 대하여 기존의 hole searching 알고리즘과 홀점 탐색속도를 비교한 결과를 제시하였다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.26-32
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• 2017

Background: Ionizing radiation is known to be harmful to human health. The shielding of ionizing radiation depends on the attenuation which can be achieved by three main rules, i.e. time, distance and absorbing material. Materials and Methods: The mass attenuation coefficient, linear attenuation coefficient, Half Value Layer (HVL) and Tenth Value Layer (TVL) of X-rays (32 keV, 74 keV) and gamma rays (662 keV) are measured in Barium compounds. Results and Discussion: The measured values agree well with the theory. The effective atomic numbers ($Z_{eff}$) and electron density (Ne) of Barium compounds have been computed in the wide energy region 1 keV to 100 GeV using an accurate database of photon-interaction cross sections and the WinXCom program. Conclusion: The mass attenuation coefficient and linear attenuation coefficient for $BaCO_3$ is higher than the $BaCl_2$, $Ba(No_3)_2$ and BaSO4. HVL, TVL and mean free path are lower for $BaCO_3$ than the $BaCl_2$, $Ba(No_3)_2$ and $BaSO_4$. Among the studied barium compounds, $BaCO_3$ is best material for x-ray and gamma shielding.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.97-106
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• 2018

Background: A cargo container scanner using a high-energy X-ray generates a fan beam X-ray to acquire a transmitted image. Because the generated X-rays by LINAC may affect the image quality and radiation protection of the system, it is necessary to acquire accurate information about the generated X-ray beam distribution. In this paper, a diode-based multi-channel spatial dose measuring device for measuring the X-ray dose distribution developed for measuring the high energy X-ray beam distribution of the container scanner is described. Materials and Methods: The developed high-energy X-ray spatial dose distribution measuring device can measure the spatial distribution of X-rays using 128 diode-based X-ray sensors. And precise measurement of the beam distribution is possible through automatic positioning in the vertical and horizontal directions. The response characteristics of the measurement system were evaluated by comparing the signal gain difference of each pixel, response linearity according to X-ray incident dose change, evaluation of resolution, and measurement of two-dimensional spatial beam distribution. Results and Discussion: As a result, it was found that the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the response signal according to the incident position showed a difference of about 10%, and the response signal was linearly increased. And it has been confirmed that high-resolution and two-dimensional measurements are possible. Conclusion: The developed X-ray spatial dose measuring device was evaluated as suitable for dose measurement of high energy X-ray through confirmation of linearity of response signal, spatial uniformity, high resolution measuring ability and ability to measure spatial dose. We will perform precise measurement of the X-ray beamline in the container scanning system using the X-ray spatial dose distribution measuring device developed through this research.