Commercially available dosimeters range from low-cost, passive devices that store personnel dose information for later readout to more expensive, battery-operated devices that display immediate dose and dose rate information (typically an electronic personal dosimeter). Readout method, dose measurement range, size, weight, and price are important selection factors.
There are two kinds of dosimeters:
- Passive Dosimeters. Commonly used passive dosimeters are the Thermo Luminescent Dosimeter (TLD) and the film badge. A passive dosimeter produces a radiation-induced signal stored in the device, and the dosimeter is then processed, and the output is analyzed.
- Active Dosimeters. You can use an active dosimeter, typically an electronic personal dosimeter (EPD), to get a real-time exposure value. An active dosimeter produces a radiation-induced signal and displays a direct reading of the detected dose or dose rate in real-time.
The passive and the active dosimeters are often used together to complement each other. Dosimeters must be worn on a position of the body representative of its exposure to estimate effective doses, typically between the waist and the neck, on the front of the torso, facing the radioactive source. Dosimeters are usually worn outside clothing, around the chest or torso to represent dose to the “whole body.” Dosimeters may also be worn on the extremities or near the eye to measure equivalent doses to these tissues.
It is important that most personal dosimeters in use today are not absolute instruments, but reference instruments. That means they must be periodically calibrated. When a reference dosimeter is calibrated, a calibration factor can be determined. This calibration factor relates the exposure quantity to the reported dose. The validity of the calibration is demonstrated by maintaining the traceability of the source used to calibrate the dosimeter. The traceability is achieved by comparison of the source with a “primary standard” at a reference calibration center. In monitoring individuals, the values of these operational quantities are taken as a sufficiently precise assessment of effective dose and skin dose, respectively, if their values are below the protection limits.
Active Dosimeter – EPD
An electronic personal dosimeter, EPD, is a modern dosimeter that can give a continuous readout of cumulative dose and current dose rate and warn the person wearing it when a specified dose rate or a cumulative dose is exceeded. EPDs are especially useful in high-dose areas where the residence time of the wearer is limited due to dose constraints.
Types of EPDs
EPDs are battery-powered, and most use either a small Geiger-Mueller (GM) tube or a semiconductor in which ionizing radiation releases charges resulting in measurable electric current.
- G-M counter. A Geiger counter consists of a Geiger-Müller tube (the sensing element which detects the radiation) and the processing electronics, which displays the result. G-M counters are mainly used for portable instrumentation due to their sensitivity, simple counting circuit, and ability to detect low-level radiation. Because of the large avalanche induced by any ionization, a Geiger counter takes a long time (about 1 ms) to recover between successive pulses. Therefore, Geiger counters cannot measure high radiation rates due to the “dead time” of the tube.
- Semiconductor Detector. Semiconductor detectors are based on ionization in a solid (e.g., silicon) and include different types of solid-state devices with two terminals called diodes. For example, a silicon diode has a p-i-n structure in which the intrinsic (i) region is sensitive to ionizing radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays. Under reverse bias, an electric field extends across the intrinsic or depleted region. In this case, a negative voltage is applied to the p-side and positive to the second one. Holes in the p-region are attracted from the junction towards the p contact and similarly for electrons and the n contact.
- Scintillation Detector. Some EPDs use a scintillating crystal such as sodium iodide (NaI) or cesium iodide (CsI) with a photodiode or photomultiplier tube to measure photons released by radiation.
Passive Dosimeter – TLD
A thermoluminescent dosimeter, abbreviated as TLD, is a passive radiation dosimeter that measures ionizing radiation exposure by measuring the intensity of visible light emitted from a sensitive crystal in the detector when the crystal is heated. TLD reader measures the intensity of light emitted depending on the radiation exposure. Thermoluminescent dosimeters were invented in 1954 by Professor Farrington Daniels of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. TLD dosimeters apply to situations where real-time information is not needed. Still, precise accumulated dose monitoring records are desired for comparison to field measurements or for assessing the potential for long-term health effects.
Passive Dosimeter – Film Badge
Film badges are small portable devices for monitoring cumulative radiation dose due to ionizing radiation. The principle of operation is similar to X-ray pictures. The badge consists of two parts: photographic film, and a holder. The film is contained inside a badge. The piece of photographic film is sensitive material, and it must be removed monthly and developed. The more radiation exposure, the more blackening of the film. The blackening of the film is linear to the dose, and doses up to about 10 Gy can be measured.
See also: The Radiation Dosimeters for Response and Recovery Market Survey Report. National Urban Security Technology Laboratory. SAVER-T-MSR-4. <available from: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Radiation-Dosimeters-Response-Recovery-MSR_0616-508_0.pdf>.
