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Updated: May 26, 2026

A Basic Positron Emission Tomography System Constructed to Locate a Radioactive Source in a Bi-dimensional Space
Published on: February 1, 2016
Locating radiation hazards and sources within contaminated areas by implementing a reverse ray tracing technique in
Eduardo B Farfán1, Steven Stanley, Christopher Holmes
1Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29808, USA. Eduardo.Farfan@srnl.doe.gov
Abstract:
RadBall™ is a novel technology that can locate unknown radioactive hazards within contaminated areas, hot cells, and gloveboxes. The device consists of a colander-like outer tungsten collimator that houses a radiation-sensitive polymer semisphere. The collimator has a number of small holes; as a result, specific areas of the polymer are exposed to radiation, becoming increasingly more opaque in proportion to the absorbed dose. The polymer semisphere is imaged in an optical computed tomography scanner that produces a high resolution three-dimensional map of optical attenuation coefficients. A subsequent analysis of the optical attenuation data, using a reverse ray tracing technique, provides information on the spatial distribution of gamma-ray sources in a given area, forming a three-dimensional characterization of the area of interest. The RadBall™ technology and its reverse ray tracing technique were investigated using known radiation sources at the Savannah River Site's Health Physics Instrument Calibration Laboratory and unknown sources at the Savannah River National Laboratory's Shielded Cells facility.
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