The British Journal of Radiology, Vol 54, Issue 640 328-334, Copyright © 1981 by British Institute of Radiology

ARTICLES

Portable transfer digital dosemeter for beam output measurements with X and gamma rays, electrons and neutrons

A Sankaran, RS Gokarn and P Gangadharan

This instrument was developed in response to a requirement for an accurate, stable and portable transfer dosemeter for calibration, at therapy dose levels, of equipment used for generating X and gamma rays, electrons and neutrons. The detector is a 0.5 cm3 ionization chamber capable of fitting various wall materials reproducibly at the end of the chamber stem. The measuring system uniquely combines the features of a MOSFET electrometer and an automatic Townsend balance. When used for X, gamma and neutron radiations, the instrument measures the tissue kerma in free air on two ranges: 0.001 - 1.999 Gy (0.1 - 199.9 rad) and 0.01 - 19.99 Gy (1 - 1999 rad) or their exposure equivalents, with autoranging feature when the first range is exceeded. The polarizing voltage (180 V) can be reversed for electron and neutron dosimetry. The dosemeter has a measuring accuracy of +/- 0.2% FS +/- 1 digit and operates on four 1.5 V torchlight cells or on AC mains (200-250 V, 50 - 60 Hz). It utilizes solid state devices, CMOS integrated circuits and displays, and is not affected by RF fields. The instrument is enclosed in a brief-case for portability and is easy to operate and maintain in a hospital.