• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2017

To compare the radiation dose and image noise of low dose computed tomography (CT) and high resolution CT using the fixed tube current technique and automatic tube current modulation (CARE Dose 4D). Chest CT and human anthropomorphic phantom were used the RPL (radiophotoluminescence) dosimeters. For image evaluation, standard deviation of mean CT attenuation coefficient and CT attenuation coefficient was measured using ROI analysis function. The effective dose was calculated using CTDIvol and DLP. CARE Dose 4D was reduced by 74.7% and HRCT by 64.4% compared to the fixed tube current technique in low dose CT of chest phantom. In CTDIvol and DLP, the dose of CARE Dose 4D was reduced by fixed tube current technique. For effective dose, CARE Dose 4D was reduced by 47% and HRCT by 46.9% compared to the fixed tube current method, and the dose of CARE Dose 4D was significantly different (p<.05). Noise in the image was higher than that in the fixed tube current technique. Noise difference in the image of CARE Dose 4D in low dose CT was significant (p<.05). The low radiation dose and the noise difference of the CARE Dose 4D were compared with the fixed tube current technique in low dose CT and HRCT using chest phantom. The radiation doses using CARE Dose 4D were in accordance with the national and international dose standards. CARE Dose 4D should be applied to low dose CT and HRCT for clinical examination.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2020

Background: This study aims to determine the effective atomic number (Zeff) from dual-energy image sets obtained using a conventional computed tomography (CT) simulator. The estimated Zeff can be used for deriving the stopping power and material decomposition of CT images, thereby improving dose calculations in radiation therapy. Materials and Methods: An electron-density phantom was scanned using Philips Brilliance CT Big Bore at 80 and 140 kVp. The estimated Zeff values were compared with those obtained using the calibration phantom by applying the Rutherford, Schneider, and Joshi methods. The fitting parameters were optimized using the nonlinear least squares regression algorithm. The fitting curve and mass attenuation data were obtained from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The fitting parameters obtained from stopping power and material decomposition of CT images, were validated by estimating the residual errors between the reference and calculated Zeff values. Next, the calculation accuracy of Zeff was evaluated by comparing the calculated values with the reference Zeff values of insert plugs. The exposure levels of patients under additional CT scanning at 80, 120, and 140 kVp were evaluated by measuring the weighted CT dose index (CTDIw). Results and Discussion: The residual errors of the fitting parameters were lower than 2%. The best and worst Zeff values were obtained using the Schneider and Joshi methods, respectively. The maximum differences between the reference and calculated values were 11.3% (for lung during inhalation), 4.7% (for adipose tissue), and 9.8% (for lung during inhalation) when applying the Rutherford, Schneider, and Joshi methods, respectively. Under dual-energy scanning (80 and 140 kVp), the patient exposure level was approximately twice that in general single-energy scanning (120 kVp). Conclusion: Zeff was calculated from two image sets scanned by conventional single-energy CT simulator. The results obtained using three different methods were compared. The Zeff calculation based on single-energy exhibited appropriate feasibility.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2011

This study has its own goal to deliver the accurate dose on the target volume by calculating and modifying the attenuation rate of photon beam transmitting the couch top with geometric model. The experiment was that the transmission rate and attenuation rate of photon beam transmitting the couch top was predicted by the geometric model, then compared and analyzed with what was measured experimentally based on that. The result showed that the predicted value by the geometric model accorded closely with the experimental value. In addition, in order to judge whether the practical clinical application is available, the point dose, measured after modifying the attenuation rate modelinged according to the treatment plan of a patient of spine radiosurgery, was compared with the one done nothing. The result was that the former showed decreased error range with treatment planned one than the latter. This papers calculated the transmission and attenuation rate with the geometric model transmitting the couch top and verified it experimentally. This method is expected to be very useful in not only the radiosurgery using Novalis but also the general radiation therapy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1763-1774
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• 2023

In this study, a series of flexible neutron/gamma shielding composites are fabricated through the doping of Gd₂O₃ into the matrix of SEBS with (M_Gd2O3: M_SEBS) % from 5% to 100%. Neutron transmittance test shows an exponential attenuation with the increase of areal density of Gd, in which the transmittance T ranges from 59.1440% to 35.3026%, with standard deviation less than 2.2743%, mass attenuation coefficient 𝜇_m from 0.3194 cm²/g to 0.4999 cm²/g, and half value layer-HVL value from 2.4530 mm to 1.1313 mm. Shielding efficiency of the Gd₂O₃/SEBS composites is basically improved in comparison with that of B₄C/SEBS. The transmittance T, mass/linear attenuation coefficient 𝜇_m and 𝜇, HVL and effective atomic number Z_eff for the shielding of γ rays (39 keV, 59 keV and 122 keV) are measured and calculated with XCOM as well as MCX programs. Finally, plots of the three dimensional relationships between transmittance, doping amount and thickness are provided to the guidance for engineering shielding design. In summary, the Gd₂O₃/SEBS composite is proved to be an effective flexible neutron/low energy γ rays shielding material, which could be of potential applications in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear engineering.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.86-93
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• 2016

The effects of the shape of a drencher head on the flow characteristics and radiation attenuation of a water curtain, in order to prevent a fire spread, were experimentally studied. The distance (h) between the orifice exit and deflector and the diameter of deflector (D) were varied as the shape factors of the head, with the same orifice diameter (d). It was found that an increase in h leads to an increase in the water flow rate and spray angle. However, the change in the spray angle decreases with increasing D. Increasing D brings about a subtle increase in the water flow rate and a significant decrease in the spray angle. A larger value of D makes it possible to produce a flatter pattern of the water curtain, but reduces the uniformity of the droplets inside the spray angle. The mean droplet diameter decreases significantly as the operating pressure increases. However, the variation in the shape of the drencher head does not significantly affect the change in the mean diameter at the same operating pressure. Finally, it was found that the radiation attenuation afforded by the water curtain at the same operating pressure was affected by water flow rate and droplet uniformity, which were determined by h and D, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.647-653
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• 2020

Stainless steel is used commonly in nuclear applications for shielding radiation, so in this study, three different types of new stainless steel samples were designed and developed. New stainless steel compound ratios were determined by using Monte Carlo Simulation program Geant 4 code. In the sample production, iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), silicium (Si), sulphur (S), carbon (C), molybdenum (Mo), manganese (Mn), wolfram (W), rhenium (Re), titanium (Ti) and vanadium (V), powder materials were used with powder metallurgy method. Total macroscopic cross sections, mean free path and transmission number were calculated for the fast neutron radiation shielding by using (Geant 4) code. In addition to neutron shielding, the gamma absorption parameters such as mass attenuation coefficients (MACs) and half value layer (HVL) were calculated using Win-XCOM software. Sulfuric acid abrasion and compressive strength tests were carried out and all samples showed good resistance to acid wear and pressure force. The neutron equivalent dose was measured using an average 4.5 MeV energy fast neutron source. Results were compared to 316LN type stainless steel, which commonly used in shielding radiation. New stainless steel samples were found to absorb neutron better than 316LN stainless steel at both low and high temperatures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3058-3067
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• 2021

Sodium zinc borate glasses doped with dysprosium and modified with different concentrations of barium oxide (0-50 mol %) were fabricated using the melting quenching technique. The structural properties of the prepared glass systems were characterized using XRD and FTIR methods. The absorption spectra of the prepared glasses were measured to determine their energy gap and their related optical properties. The density of the glasses and other physical parameters were also reported. Additionally, with the help of Photon Shielding and Dosimetry (PSD) software, we investigated the radiation shielding parameters of the prepared glass systems at different energy values. It was found that an increase in the density of the glasses by increasing the concentration of BaO significantly improved the gamma ray shielding ability of the samples. For practical results, a compatible irradiation set up was designed to check the shielding capability of the obtained glasses using a gamma ray source at 662 keV. The experimentally obtained results strongly agreed with the data obtained by PDS software at the same energy. These results demonstrated that the investigated glass system is a good candidate for several radiation shielding applications when comparing it with other commercial shielding glasses and concretes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1154-1159
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• 2018

Precise prediction of the radiation interaction position in scintillators plays an important role in medical and industrial imaging systems. In this research, the incident position of the gamma rays was predicted precisely in a plastic rod scintillator by using attenuation technique and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network, for the first time. Also, this procedure was performed using nonlinear regression (NLR) method. The experimental setup is comprised of a plastic rod scintillator (BC400) coupled with two PMTs at two sides, a $^{60}Co$ gamma source and two counters that record count rates. Using two proposed techniques (ANN and NLR), the radiation interaction position was predicted in a plastic rod scintillator with a mean relative error percentage less than 4.6% and 14.6%, respectively. The mean absolute error was measured less than 2.5 and 5.5. The correlation coefficient was calculated 0.998 and 0.984, respectively. Also, the ANN technique was confirmed by leave-one-out (LOO) method with 1% error. These results presented the superiority of the ANN method in comparison with NLR and the other methods. The technique and set up used are simpler and faster than other the previous position sensitive detectors. Thus, the time, cost and shielding and electronics requirements are minimized and optimized.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1456-1463
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• 2022

The aim of this work is to study the radiation shielding properties of cement samples with waste glass incortated into its composition. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the samples were experimentally determined to evaluate their radiation shielding ability. The experimental coefficient was evaluated using NaI detector for gamma energies between 59.53 keV and 1408.01 keV using different radioactive point sources Am-241, Eu-152, Co-60, and Cs-137, and the gamma transmission parameters half-value layer, mean free path, and transmission factor were calculated. The theoretical coefficient of the composites was determined using Geant4 and XCOM software. The results were also compared against Geant4 and XCOM simulations by calculating the relative deviation between the values to determine the accuracy of the results. In addition the mechanical properties (including Compressive and porosity) as well as the thermogravimetric analysis were tested for the present samples. Overall, it was concluded that the cement sample with 50% waste glass has the greatest shielding potential for radiation shielding applications and is a useful way to reuse waste glass.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1885-1891
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• 2023

The present work aims to fabricate Na_1+xZr₂Si_xP_3-xO₁₂ compound at various calcination temperatures based on the zircon mineral. The fabricated compound was calcinated at 250, 500, and 1000℃. The effect of calcination temperature on the structure, crystal phase, and radiation shielding properties was studied for the fabricated compound. The X-ray diffraction diffractometer demonstrates that, the monoclinic crystal phase appeared at a calcination temperature of 250℃ and 500℃ is totally transformed to a high-symmetry hexagonal crystal phase under a calcination temperature of 1000℃. The radiation shielding capacity was also qualified for the fabricated compounds using the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code in the g-photons energy interval between 15keV and 122keV. The impacts of calcination temperature on the g-ray shielding behavior were clarified in the present study, where the linear attenuation coefficient was enhanced by 218% at energy of 122keV, when the calcination temperature increased from 250 to 1000℃, respectively.