• 대한방사성의약품학회지
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.113-118
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• 2022

Gadolinium neutron capture therapy (Gd-NCT) is a precision radiation therapy that kills cancer cells using the neutron capture reaction that occurs when ¹⁵⁷Gd hits thermal neutrons. ¹⁵⁷Gd has the highest thermal neutron capture cross section of 254,000 barns among stable isotopes in the periodic table. Another stable isotope, ¹⁵⁵Gd, also has a high thermal neutron trapping area (~ 60,700 barns), so gadolinium that exists in nature can be used as a Gd-NCT drug. Gd-NCT is a mixed kinetic energy of low-energy and high-energy ionizing particles, which can be uniformly distributed throughout the tumor tissue, thereby solving the disadvantage of heterogeneous dose distribution in tumor tissue. The Gd complexes of small-sized molecule are widely used as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in clinical practice. Therefore, these compounds can be used not only for diagnosis but also therapy when considering the concept of Gd-NCT. This multifunctional trial can look forward to new medical advance into NCT clinical practices. In this review, we introduce gadolinium compounds suitable for Gd-NCT and describe the necessity of image guided Gd-NCT.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권10호
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• pp.3591-3598
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• 2023

Photoneutron background spectroscopy observations at linac are essential for directing accelerator shielding and subtracting background signals. Therefore, we constructed a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (BSS) system based on an array of BF₃ gas proportional counter tubes. Initially, the response of the BSS system was simulated using the MCNP5 code. Next, the response of the system was calibrated by using neutrons with energies of 2.86 MeV and 14.84 MeV. Then, the system was employed to measure the spectrum of the ²⁴¹Am-Be neutron source, and the results were unfolded by using the Gravel and EM algorithms. Using the validated system, the undesirable neutron spectrum of the 120 MeV electron linac was finally measured and acquired. In addition, it is demonstrated that the equivalent undesirable neutron dose at a distance of 3.2 m from the linac is 19.7 mSv/h. The results measured by the above methods could provide guidance for linac-related research.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.185-190
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• 2016

Background: In order to measure neutron energy spectra, the conventional Bonner Sphere Spectrometers (BSS) are widely used. In this spectrometer, several measurements with different size Bonner spheres are required. Operators should, therefore, place these spheres in several times to a measurement point where radiation dose might be relatively high. In order to reduce this effort, novel neutron energy spectrometer using an onion-like single Bonner sphere was proposed in our group. This Bonner sphere has multiple sensitive spherical shell layers in the single sphere. In this spectrometer, a band-shaped thermal neutron detection medium, which consists of a LiF-ZnS mixed powder scintillator sheet and a wavelength-shifting (WLS) fiber readout, was looped to each sphere at equal angular intervals. Amount of LiF neutron converter is reduced near polar region, where the band-shaped detectors are concentrated, in order to uniform the directional sensitivity. The LiF-ZnS mixed powder has an advantage of extremely high light yield. However, since it is opaque, scintillation photons cannot be collect uniformly. This type of detector shows no characteristic shape in the pulse height spectrum. Subsequently, it is difficult to set the pulse height discrimination level. This issue causes sensitivity fluctuation due to gain instability of photodetectors and/or electric modules. Materials and Methods: In order to solve this problem, we propose to replace the LiF-ZnS mixed powder into a flexible and Transparent RUbber SheeT type $LiCaAlF_6$ (TRUST LiCAF) scintillator. TRUST LiCAF scintillator can show a peak shape corresponding to neutron absorption events in the pulse height spectrum. Results and Discussion: We fabricated the prototype detector with five sensitive layers using TRUST LiCAF scintillator and conducted basic experiments to evaluate the directional uniformity of the sensitivity. Conclusion: The fabricated detector shows excellent directional uniformity of the neutron sensitivity.

• 센서학회지
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.402-407
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• 2009

In this study, plastic optical fiber sensors which can measure thermal neutron dose in a mixed neutron-gamma field are developed and characterized. Using $^{252}Cf$ and $^{60}Co$ sources, the scintillators suitable for thermal neutron detection, are tested and the scintillating lights generated from a plastic optical fiber sensor in the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (kuca) core are measured. Also, the distributions of thermal neutron and gamma-ray are measured in a mixed field as a function of the distance from the center of the reactor core at KUCA and the distribution of thermal neutron is obtained using a subtraction method. Sensitivity of the fiber-optic radiation sensor system is about 0.49 V/mW according to power of the KUCA core and its relative error is about 1.2 %.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.2153-2162
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to develop a high-energy neutron shielding material applied in proton therapy environment. Composite shielding material consisting of 10.00 wt% boron carbide particles (B₄C), 13.64 wt% surface-modified cross-linked polyethylene (PE), and 76.36 wt% tungsten particles were fabricated by hot-pressure sintering method, where the optimal ratio of the composite is determined by the shielding effect under the neutron field generated in typical proton therapy environment. The results of Differential Scanning Calorimetry measurements (DSC) and tensile experiment show that the composite has good thermal and mechanical properties. In addition, the high energy-neutron shielding performance of the developed material was evaluated using cyclotron proton accelerator with 100 MeV proton. The simulation shows a 99.99% decrease in fast neutron injection after 44 cm shielding, and the experiment result show a 99.70% decrease. Finally, the shielding effect of replacing part of the shielding material of the proton therapy hall with the developed material was simulated, and the results showed that the total neutron injection decreased to 0.99‰ and the neutron dose reduced to 1.10‰ before the enhanced shielding. In summary, the developed material is expected to serve as a shielding enhancement material in the proton therapy environment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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• pp.1807-1816
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• 2020

In this work, a Gaussian Process (Kriging) approach is proposed to provide efficient dose mapping for complex radiation fields using limited number of responses. Given a few response measurements (or simulation data points), the proposed approach can help the analyst in completing a map of the radiation dose field with a 95% confidence interval, efficiently. Two case studies are used to validate the proposed approach. The First case study is based on experimental dose measurements to build the dose map in a radiation field induced by a D-D neutron generator. The second, is a simulation case study where the proposed approach is used to mimic Monte Carlo dose predictions in the radiation field using a limited number of MCNP simulations. Given the low computational cost of constructing Gaussian Process (GP) models, results indicate that the GP model can reasonably map the dose in the radiation field given a limited number of data measurements. Both case studies are performed on the nuclear engineering radiation laboratories at the University of Sharjah.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제27권6호
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• pp.345-349
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• 2017

The effects of electron beam(EB) irradiation on the electrical and optical properties of InGaZnO(IGZO) thin films fabricated using a sol-gel process were investigated. As the EB dose increased, the electrical characteristic of the IGZO TFTs changed from semiconductor to conductor, and the threshold voltage values shifted to the negative direction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the O 1s core level showed that the relative area of oxygen vacancies increased from 14.68 to 19.08 % as the EB dose increased from 0 to $1.5{\times}10^{16}electrons/cm^2$. In addition, spectroscopic ellipsometer analysis showed that the optical band gap varied from 3.39 to 3.46 eV with increasing EB dose. From the result of band alignment, it was confirmed that the Fermi level($E_F$) of the sample irradiated with $1.5{\times}10^{16}electrons/cm^2$ was located at the closest position to the conduction band minimum(CBM) due to the increase of electron carrier concentration.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.85-91
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• 1988

한국에너지연구소 원자력병원 싸이클로트론에 의해 생산되는 중성자를 임상에 적용시키기 위해, 이의 물리적 특성을 알기 위하여 방사선선량 측정실험을 시행하였다. 여기서 얻은 결과를 외국의 다른 치료기관에서 얻은 데이타와 비교 분석하였다. 중심축 선상의 심부선량백분율, build-up곡선, open과 쐐기등선량 곡선의 값이 4MV와 6MV X-ray값의 중간에 위치하였다. 최대선량의 build-up은 피부아래 1.35cm에 위치했으며 입사 선량은 약 $40\%$였다. 출력인자는 $6\times6cm$의 조사야에서 0.894, $30\times30cm$의 조사야에서는 1.187이었다. 중성자선의 X-ray오염도는 $10\times10cm$ 조사야에서 심부 2cm에서 $4.9\%$였다.

• 대한방사선치료학회지
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.141-145
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• 2005

목 적 : 일반적으로 10 MV이상의 광자선에서 산란 중성자를 발생시키는 것으로 알려져 있다. 세관에 설치된 컨테이너 검색장치는 9 MV 이하였음에도 중성자가 누출되었다. 본 연구에서 의료기관에 설치된 방사선 치료기에서 산란 방출되는 중성자의 공간적인 측정을 통해 결과를 분석하고 평가하고자 한다. 대상 및 방법 : 본 연구의 방사선 발생장치는 의료용 선형가속기(linear accelerator, linac: Varian, Clinac 1800, USA)를 사용하였다. 중성자 측정용 검출기는 중성자가 발생하면 기포(bubble)이 생기는 Bubble 검출기(Bubble detector, BDPND type, BTI, Canada)를 사용하였다. 의료용 선형가속기 주변에 Bubble 검출기를 isocenter로부터 30 cm, 50 cm, 120 cm의 각각 3가지 거리별로 isocenter 상하 방향 네 곳에 위치시켜 측정하였다. 주변 구조물의 영향을 살펴보기 위해 Wedge와 Mount를 장착 후 50 cm 거리에서 각각 8방향에서 측정하였다. 광자선원부터 isocenter 까지의 거리(SAD: source-axis-distance)를 100 cm로 기준을 정하고 조사면의 크기(field size)는 $15{\times}15cm^2$로 정하였다. 방사선은 20 MU를 조사하여 Bubble 검출기에 발생한 기포수를 측정하며 mrem값으로 계산하였다. 결 과 : Isocenter부터 거리가 30 cm와 50 cm 떨어진 곳의 각각 8개 측정 지점 중에서는 모두 5번 위치(Gantry 우측 아래지점)에서 측정된 산란중성자의 양이 같은 거리라도 가장 높게 측정되었다. Bubble 검출기가 Isocenter부터 120 cm 떨어진 경우와 wedge를 장착한 경우는 7번 위치(Couch 우측 아래지점), mount 탈착한 경우는 2번 위치(Gantry 왼쪽 윗지점)에서 산란 중성자가 가장 높게 측정되었다. 결 론 : 산란중성자의 측정에서 직선상 같은 거리에 있는 곳이라도, 실제 측정한 결과 값에 따르면 서로 상이한 값을 보였다. 주변 구조물도 산란 중성자에 영향을 미치며, 직선상은 같은 거리라도 각각의 지점에서 다른 값을 보였다. 따라서, 산란중성자의 거리에 따른 영향은 단순히 직선으로의 거리뿐 아니라 방향과 주변 구조물에 대한 영향까지 고려하며 공간적인 측정과 평가가 필요하다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.209-215
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• 2017

Fast neutron irradiation was used to improve the switching speed of a 600-V nonpunch-through insulated gate bipolar transistor. Fast neutron irradiation was carried out at 30-MeV energy in doses of $1{\times}10^8n/cm^2$, $1{\times}10^9n/cm^2$, $1{\times}10^{10}n/cm^2$, and $1{\times}10^{11}n/cm^2$. Electrical characteristics such as current-voltage, forward on-state voltage drop, and switching speed of the device were analyzed and compared with those prior to irradiation. The on-state voltage drop of the initial devices prior to irradiation was 2.08 V, which increased to 2.10 V, 2.20 V, 2.3 V, and 2.4 V, respectively, depending on the irradiation dose. This effect arises because of the lattice defects generated by the fast neutrons. In particular, the turnoff delay time was reduced to 92 nanoseconds, 45% of that prior to irradiation, which means there is a substantial improvement in the switching speed of the device.