• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4122-4129
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• 2021

The counting efficiencies obtained using anthropomorphic physical phantoms are generally used in whole-body counting measurements to determine the level of internal contamination in the body. Geometrical discrepancies between phantoms and measured individuals affect the counting efficiency, and thus, considering individual physical characteristics is crucial to improve the accuracy of activity estimates. In the present study, the counting efficiencies of whole-body counting measurements were calculated considering individual physical characteristics by employing Monte Carlo simulation for calibration. The NaI(Tl)-based stand-up and HPGe-based bed type commercial whole-body counters were used for calculating the counting efficiencies. The counting efficiencies were obtained from 19 computational phantoms representing various shapes and sizes of the measured individuals. The discrepancies in the counting efficiencies obtained using the computational and physical phantoms range from 2% to 33%, and the results indicate that the counting efficiency depends on the size of the measured individual. Taking into account the body size, the equations for estimating the counting efficiencies were derived from the relationship between the counting efficiencies and the body-build index of the subject. These equations can aid in minimizing the size dependency of the counting efficiency and provide more accurate measurements of internal contamination in whole-body counting measurements.

• 핵의학기술
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.105-111
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• 2018

Purpose Quality control of instrument takes up a large part in the Radioimmunoassays. The gamma-ray instrument, which is one of the important instruments in the laboratory, observes the condition and performance of instrument and performs quality control of the instrument by measuring the Normalization, Calibration, Background and etc. However, there are some automation instruments which can't measure the counting efficiency of gamma-ray meters, resulting in insufficient management in terms of performance evaluation of gamma-ray meters. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to manage the quality control continuously and regularly by suggesting how to measure the counting efficiency of gamma-ray instruments. Materials and Methods In case of a comparative measurement method to a gamma-ray instrument dedicated to nuclear medical examination, the CPM and counting efficiency can be obtained after the measurement of normalization by inserting the I-125 $200{\mu}L$(CPM 50,000~500,000) into the test tube. With this CPM and counting efficiency values, it's possible to calculate the measurement of the DPM value and count the CPM from the automation instrument from the same source, and enter the DPM to calculate the counting efficiency using a comparative measurement method. Another method is to calculate the counting efficiency by estimating the half life using the radiation source information of the tracer in B test reagents of company A. Results According to the calculation formula using the DPM obtained by counting the normalization of gamma-ray meters, the detection efficiency was 75.16% for Detector 1, 76.88% for Detector 2, 77.13% for Detector 3, 75.36% for Detector 4 and 73.2% for Detector 5 respectively. Using another calculation formula estimated from the shelf life, the data of the detection efficiency from Detector 1 to Detector 5 were 74.9%, 75.1%, 76.5%, 74.9% and 73.2% respectively. Conclusion Although the accuracy of counting efficiencies of both methods are insufficient, this is considered to be useful for ongoing management of quality control if counting efficiency is managed after setting the acceptable ranges. For example, if the measurement efficiency is set to 70% or higher, the allowed %difference between measurements is within 3% and the %difference with the detector wall is set within 5%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권1호
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• pp.295-303
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• 2023

Whole-body counters are widely used to assess internal contamination after a nuclear accident. However, it is difficult to determine radioiodine activity due to limitations in conventional calibration phantoms. Inhaled or ingested radioiodine is heterogeneously distributed in the human body, necessitating time-dependent biodistribution for the assessment of the internal contamination caused by the radioiodine intake. This study aims at calculating counting efficiencies considering the biodistribution of ¹³¹I in whole-body counting measurement. Monte Carlo simulations with computational human phantoms were performed to calculate the whole-body counting efficiency for a realistic radioiodine distribution after its intake. The biodistributions of ¹³¹I for different age groups were computed based on biokinetic models and applied to age- and gender-specific computational phantoms to estimate counting efficiency. After calculating the whole-body counting efficiencies, the efficiency correction factors were derived as the ratio of the counting efficiencies obtained by considering a heterogeneous biodistribution of ¹³¹I over time to those obtained using the BOMAB phantom assuming a homogeneous distribution. Based on the correction factors, the internal contamination caused by ¹³¹I can be assessed using whole-body counters. These correction factors can minimize the influence of the biodistribution of ¹³¹I in whole-body counting measurement and improve the accuracy of internal dose assessment.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.274-281
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• 2016

Background: Whole-body counters are widely used to evaluate internal contamination of the internal presence of gamma-emitting radionuclides. In internal dosimetry, it is a basic requirement that quality control procedures be applied to verify the reliability of the measured results. The implementation of intercomparison programs plays an important role in quality control, and the accuracy of the calibration and the reliability of the results should be verified through intercomparison. In this study, we evaluated the reliability of 2 whole-body counting systems using 2 calibration methods. Materials and Methods: In this study, 2 whole-body counters were calibrated using a reference male bottle manikin absorption (BOMAB) phantom and a Radiation Management Corporation (RMC-II) phantom. The reliability of the whole-body counting systems was evaluated by performing an intercomparison with International Atomic Energy Agencyto assess counting efficiency according to the type of the phantom. Results and Discussion: In the analysis of counting efficiency using the BOMAB phantom, the performance criteria of the counters were satisfied. The relative bias of activity for all radionuclides was -0.16 to 0.01 in the Fastscan and -0.01 to 0.03 in the Accuscan. However, when counting efficiency was analyzed using the RMC- II phantom, the relative bias of $^{241}Am$ activity was -0.49 in the Fastscan and 0.55 in the Accuscan, indicating that its performance criteria was not satisfactory. Conclusion: The intercomparison process demonstrated the reliability of whole-body counting systems calibrated with a BOMAB phantom. However, when the RMC-II phantom was used, the accuracy of measurements decreased for low-energy nuclides. Therefore, it appears that the RMC-II phantom should only be used for efficiency calibration for high-energy nuclides. Moreover, a novel phantom capable of matching the efficiency of the BOMAB phantom in low-energy nuclides should be developed.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.910-922
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• 2018

Conventional battery state-of-charge (SoC) estimation methods either involve sophisticated models or consume considerable computational resource. This study constructs an enhanced coulomb counting method (Ah method) for the SoC estimation of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) by expanding the Peukert equation for the discharging process and incorporating the Coulombic efficiency for the charging process. Both the rate- and temperature-dependence of battery capacity are encompassed. An SoC mapping approach is also devised for initial SoC determination and Ah method correction. The charge counting performance at different sampling frequencies is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. To achieve a favorable compromise between sampling frequency and accumulation accuracy, a frequency-adjustable current sampling solution is developed. Experiments under the augmented urban dynamometer driving schedule cycles at different temperatures are conducted on two LiBs of different chemistries. Results verify the effectiveness and generalization ability of the proposed SoC estimation method.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.85-92
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• 1984

It is a esperimental report to investigation for optimum window-width on radionuclides $^{131}I\;and\;^{198}Au$ The obtained results were as follow; 1. In case of $^{131}I$, 1) The lowest counts produced at the window-width of 10KeV and 20KeV. 2) The count rate, more increased, when the window-width more opened, but the counting efficiency is very good between 70KeV and 130KeV window-width (19.23% -35.71% about the peak energy). 3) The heighest counting rate per KeV of window appeared at 130KeV window-width. 4) BKG counts increased proportionally to the wider window as 5.473 + 0.016 cpm. 2. In case of $^{198}Au$ 1) The lowest counts appeared at 10KeV and 20KeV window. 2) Count rate more increased, when window-width more opened, but the counting efficiency is very good between 80KeV and 140KeV window (19.46% - 34.06% about the peak energy). 3) The highest counting rate per KeV of the window appeared at 140KeV window. 4) BKG counts increased proportionally to the wider window-width as 4.74 + 1.09 cpm.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2004년도 학술논문집
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• pp.419-424
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• 2004

방사성 폐기물 중에 함유된 핵종 및 방사능을 측정하기 위해서는 여러 가지 방사선 계측기가 이용되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 각각의 핵종에 대하여 측정 가능한 검출기를 선정하고 원전 방사성폐기물 중 방사능을 측정 하기위한 시스템을 구성하였다. 그리고 그 계측 시스템의 바탕 값 및 계측효율을 주기적으로 측정하고 품질관리를 위한 관리도를 작성하여 계측기의 안전성을 확보하고 분석결과에 대한 신뢰도를 향상시키고자 하였다. Gamma spectrometer의 바탕 값 평균은 1.59 cps이었으며 표준 시료에 대한 평균값은 45,248 dps로 거의 대부분의 측정값이 $2{\sigma}$ 이내에서 크게 벗어나지 않음을 나타냈다. Low background ${\alpha}/{\beta}$ counting 시스템의 알파 바탕 값 평균은 0.31 cpm이고 알파선 계측효율은 34.38% 이었으며, 베타 바탕 값은 1.3 cpm이고 베타선 계측효율 46.5% 이었다. 또한 액체섬광계수기는 3H 영역에서 바탕 값이 2.52 cpm, 계측효율 58.5% 이었으며, 14C 영역에서의 바탕 값은 3.31 cpm 이었고 계측효율은 95.6% 이었다. 본 연구에서는 바탕 값 및 계측효율로부터 최소검출방사능을 설정함으로써 시료의 측정 가능한 범위를 구하였다. 측정결과, gamma spectrometer의 최소검출방사능은 3.2 Bq/$m\ell$이었으며, ${\alpha}/{\beta}$counting 시스템의 경우는 알파 및 베타 영역에서 각각 20.5 Bq/$m\ell$, 23.0 Bq/$m\ell$이고 liquid scintillation counter의 경우는 3.8 Bq/$m\ell$로 나타났다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.142-146
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• 2020

Background: Tritium (³H) analysis in groundwater was difficult because of its low activity. Therefore, the electrolytic enrichment method was used. To improve the detection limit and for performing simple analysis, a high-volume counting vial with the available liquid scintillation counter (LSC) was investigated. Further, it was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial. Materials and Methods: The LSC with the electrolytic enrichment method was used ³H analysis in groundwater. A high-volume 145-mL counting vial was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial to determine the counting characteristics of different LSCs. Results and Discussion: When a Quantulus LSC was used, the counting window between channels 35 and 250 was used. The background count was approximately 1.86 cpm, and the counting efficiency increased from 8% to 40% depending on the mixing ratio of the volume of sample and cocktail solution. For LSC-LB7, the optimum counting window was between 1 and 4.9 keV, which was selected by the factory (Hitachi Aloka Medical Ltd., Japan) by considering quenching using a standard external gamma source. The background count of LSC-LB7 was approximately 3.60 ± 0.29 cpm when the 145-mL vial was used and 2.22 ± 0.17 cpm when the 20-mL vial was used. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of the 20-mL vial was greater for LSC-LB7 than for Quantulus. The MDA with the 145-mL vial was improved to 0.3 Bq/L when compared with the value of 1.6 Bq/L for the 20-mL vial. Conclusion: The counting efficiency when using the 145-mL vial was 27%, whereas it was 18% when using the 20-mL vial. This difference can be attributed to the vial volume. The figure of merit (FOM) of the 145-mL vial was four times greater than that of the 20-mL vial because the volume of the former vial is approximately seven times greater than that of the latter. Further, the MDA for ³H decreased from 1.6 to 0.3 Bq/L. The counting efficiency and FOM of LSC-LB7 was slightly less than those of Quantulus when the 20-mL vial was used. The background counting rate of the Quantulus was lower than that of the LSC-LB7.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.65-71
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• 1986

It is an experimental report about optimum window-width on radionuclides $^{99m}Tc$ and $^{131}I$ and obtained results as follows; 1. In case of $^{99m}Tc$, a) The difference of counting rate in each window-width is greater at the below 20% window than above 20% window-width. b) BKG counting is proportionated to the window-width. 2. In case of $^{131}I$, a) The counting rate increased according to the window-width but the increasing course is not equal in all window. The difference of counting rate is greater at the below of 20% window-width than above 20% window. b) BKG counting is proportionated to the window-width.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.76-80
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• 2020

Background: To improve the measurement accuracy of liquid-scintillation counting for activity standardization, it is necessary to significantly reduce the background caused by thermal noise or after-pulses. We have therefore improved a movable 3 photomultiplier (3PM)-γ coincidence-counting method using the logical sum of three double coincidences for β events. Materials and Methods: We designed a new data-acquisition system in which β events are obtained by counting the logical sum of three double coincidences. The change in β-detection efficiency can be derived by moving three photomultiplier tubes sequentially from the liquid-scintillation vial. The validity of the method was investigated by activity measurement of ¹³⁴Cs calibrated at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) with 4π(PC)β-γ(NaI(Tl)) coincidence counting using a proportional counter (PC) for the β detector. Results and Discussion: Measurements were taken over 14 counting intervals for each liquidscintillation sample by displacing three photomultiplier tubes up to 45 mm from the sample. The dead time in each β- and γ-counting channel was adjusted to be a non-extending type of 20 ㎲. The background ranged about 1.2-3.3 s^-1, such that the contributions of thermal noise or after-pulses were negligible. As the β-detection unit was moved away from the sample, the β-detection efficiencies varied between 0.54 and 0.81. The result obtained by the method at the reference date was 396.3 ± 1.7 kBq/g. This is consistent with the KRISS-certified value of 396.0 ± 2.0 kBq/g within the uncertainty range. Conclusion: The movable 3PM-γ method developed in the present work not only succeeded in reducing background counts to negligible levels but enabled β-detection efficiency to be varied by a geometrical method to apply the efficiency extrapolation method. Compared with our earlier work shown in the study of Hwang et al. [2], the measurement accuracy has much improved. Consequently, the method developed in this study is an improved method suitable for activity standardization of β-γ emitters.