Unit 3 - Radiation Electronics and Detection Flashcards
What are the units for Rontgens?
C/kg
What are rontagens measuring?
Exposure
Define exposure?
The intensity of radiation upon the surface of an object (i.e. the number of ionized electrons)
What is the units for Gry and what is it measuring?
J/Kg-measuring the absorbed dose
How do you count the x ray photons before they are absorbed by an attenuator?
Find their number of photons by recording the ionizations that take place in air near the material that is being attenuated
How does a detector record the number of photons?
In general
- Photons hit e- in the ion chamber and knock out an inner shell e- (ionization)
2.The e- is the attracted to a positive anode in the detector
3.This creates a small electrical currrent which can be measured
What is exposure (i.e. Rontgens) useful for measuring?
The intestisity of the “raw” x ray beam emmited from the tube
Is the measurement of rontgens useful for measuring the biological imact of radiation exposure? Why or why not?
No
1. Air and soft tissue have diff. densities therefore the dose absorbed by the patient is different with varying tissue types
2. P.E. effect contributes most to dose, and we cannot tell the difference in a measurement between P.E. and scatter.
True or false?
All radiation detection instruments have a transducer? What is a transducers purpose?
True. Transducer measures the # of ionizations that are occuring.
What are the 2 different ways that radiation detectors operate based off of?
- # Ionizations of atoms
- The excitation of electrons
How do detectors that operate on the basis of excitation of electrons count the number of photons?
As the e- returns to the pre-excitation stage, they release energy which is captured and transferred into an electrical current which is then measured.
How do detectors that operate on the basis of the ionizations of atoms count the number of photons?
Free e- that have been knocked out of orbit travel to a positive anode plate that creates a charge that can be measured.
What factors determine whether ionization or excitation is favored?
- The physical state of the transducer
- The denisty of the transducer
The transducer is coupled to an ___________ where the radiation is converted into a useful electronic signal
Electronic component
What are the 3 functions that radiation detectors can preform?
- Can detect radiation
- Can measure radiation
- Can do both
What is the function of pulse or rate mode detectors?
Detect the presence of radiation (and general intensity)
Can pulse mode detectors measure radioactivity without a meter or a counter?
No
When using a pulse mode detector, how do we know that radiation is present?
When radiation is present, a clicking/beeping/ticking will occur and the meter will move to indicate the general amount of radiation present
What type of mode is a geiger counter?
It is a pulse mode detector
What is rate mode measuring?
The rontgens present per hour
In order for a rate mode detector to be useful, what enviroment must it be in?
-Useful when there is a steady flow of radiation
True or false?
Rate mode detectors are useful for detecting natural sources of radioactivity. Why or why not?
False, natural sources of radioactivity have varying rates which does not allow for an accurate reading
What is them most useful mode of detectors?
Integrate mode
What does integrate mode measure?
The number of ionizations per set unit of time
True or false?
Integrate mode is accurate.
True, they can count events at an extremely high speed and with great accuracy
What mode of radiation detection can be derived from the integrate mode?
Rates can be accurately derived
What is the most accuate way to obtain exposure rates?
Use integrated measurements taken over long periods of time and then divide by the seconds or minutes expired
What are the characteristics of radiation detection devices that makes a good device?
- Sensitivety
- Accuracy
- Resolving (interogation) time
- Range
What is sensitivity?
The ability to dectect small amounts of radiation OR the amount of electrical current/charge produced by radiation
What are the 2 main modicfications that would make a dtection instrument more sensitive?
- Larger detection chamber
- Increasing the amplification of the electronic signal
What is the only downside of having a larger detector?
We cannot make it portable
What is accuracy in realtion to radiation detection devices?
The precision with which measurements are obtained
True or false?
Decreasing sensitivity increases accuracy.
False, increasing sensitivity increases accuracy
What are the factors that could affect accuracy?
- Printed scale being missaligned
- Electronic noise contributing to the signal causing the read out to be higher
- Fluctuations in the amount of power being supplied such as the batteries running down
What is the resolving (interrogration) time?
The minimum time that must elpase before another ionization can be detectted by the detector
True or false?
Resolving (intograttion time) affects the accuracy of the instrument
True
What mode of detector is the least susceptible to dead times during the elapsed/resolving time
Integrate mode
What is a range detector?
A range mode detector takes into consideration the expected range of intensity and only displays a certain amount of radiation that it is programmed to expect
What are geiger counter detectors generally used for?
Low amounts of radiation that are typical of naturally occurring radioactivity
Cannot use these for measuring x ray intensity
What does higher accuracy detectors result from?
- Increased sensitivity
- Increased range (not just low range)
- Faster resoving time
- Higher DQE
What makes a detector have a high DQE?
- Intrinic factor: Transducer should have sufficient stopping power (ability to absorb) and detect the radiation
- Geometric factor: Transducer should be optimally positioned relative to the radiation source (SID)
What is absoulte efficency?
**A product of intrinic efficiency and geometric effficency **
(The number of photons emmitted vs the events detected)
How do gas filled detectors work?
- As x rays pass through the gas, it ionizes atoms of the gas, creting ion pairs (free e-)
- e- then strike a positively charged anode within the chamber
- The e- released in ionization cause an electrical signal proportional to the raidation intensity
What are the types of gas filled detectors?
- Ionization chambers
- Proportional counters
- Geiger Muller Detectors
What type of gas is located within the ionization chambers?
-Filled with air
-Filled with pressurized gas (xenon or argon)
True or false?
The larger the chamber, the more sensitive the instrument.
True
In ionization chambers, how many e- are produced for every photon interacting with it?
1 e- for every 1 photon
What are the benefits of ionization chambers?
- Good for portable work for radiation surveys around floro, nuclear medicine generators and syringes
- Good for checking integrity of protective barriers
- Good for checking the output and callibration of the x ray machines
What are proportional counters?
Take advantage of the cascade effect by using high E e- that has other interactions with e- in the ionization chambers and create secodnary e-.
(in a way amplifies e-)
What are proportional counters useful for? Why?
Useful for lower range amounts of raidaiton (in geiger counters) since they have high sensitivity and are able to detect small amounts of radiation
True or false?
Proportional counters are useful in clinical imaging due to thier high sensitivity.
False-Although they do have high sensitivity
What type of gas filled detector is used in the geiger mueller tube?
Proportional counters
What happens in a geiger-muller tube when an e- becomes ionized from a single radiation exposure event?
- The energy imparted from the e- being ionized causes all of the e- in the gas chamber to become ionized
- Entire chamber is discharged
- The entire chamber must now be regarched before it can detect another radiation event
What is one way that we can slightly resolve the resting/dead time in geiger-muller tubes?
By using quenching agents (Butane/ethanol vaopor, bromine/chlorine)
How long is the dead time in geiger muller tubes with quenching agents?
50-100 microseconds
True or false?
Geiger muller tubes have low sensitivity, but high accuracy.
Geiger muller tubes have high sensitivity, but low accuracy. They are not capable of an integrated/accumulated dose calcualtion.
What is the rate of the range for the intenisty of gieger muller tubes?
100mr/hr
What are geiger muller tubes primarily used for?
- Portable survey instruments for enviormental raidaiton
- Detect raidaiton contamination on work surfaces in nuc.med. and laboratories
What is recombination?
When the voltage is too low to cause an ionized e- in the chamber to reach the anode, the e- travels back to its original atom and reattaches
What is the ionization region?
When photons are at a good voltage such that for every 1 ionization, 1 e- will be released and go to the anode
What is the proportional region?
Photons have a much higher voltage such that for every ionization, 10 electrons will be released
What is the geiger muller region?
When the photon energy is so high such that 1 ionization discharges the whole tube
What is the CD region?
When the Voltage energy is so high such that it causes contrast discharge without ionization
Where are scintillation detectors primarily used in?
- Digital image receptor in radiography and floro
- Detector array in CT
- Gamma camera in nuc. med.
What materials scintillate?
Particular crystalline structures scintillate
What is scintillation?
The conversion of x ray energy into light photons
What is it called when the ground state return is delayed for trapped e- in a detector?
Phosphorescence (CR)
What is the most widely used scintillation phosphors?
Thallium activated cesium iodide crystals