FILM DOSIMETER

AND
POCKET DOSIMETER

ABDUL KAYYUM
PK
BSc MIT, 3rd yr.
SOAHS ,Manipal
 RADIATION PROTECTION

Radiation protection may be defined

simply as effective measures employed by
radiation workers to safeguard patients ,
personnel and the general public from
unnecessary exposure to ionizing
radiation.

 Harmful effects:
-having biological effects on
patients and
Safety measures:

RADIATION MONITORING
Safety measures taken for the sake of
routine/daily working radiation workers to
ensure that occupational radiation
exposure levels are kept well below the
annual effective dose (EfD) limit by means
of monitoring personnel exposure.
Radiation Monitoring Devices:
-Personnel Dosimeters
-Radiation Survey Instruments
-Calibration Instruments
 Personnel Dosimeters

 Film Badges
 Optically Stimulated Luminescence(OSL)
dosimeter
 Thermo luminescent Dosimeter(TLD)
 Pocket Ionization Chamber(Pocket
Dosimeter)
 FILM BADGE

 Usedto measure external individual

doses from x, beta , gamma and
thermal neutron radiations.
 PERSONAL
 Personnel DOSIMETER
monitoring
usually performed through
use of Film Badges for
whole body exposures
 Most popular type
of monitoring device
 Distinguishes type
of radiation to which
wearer is exposed
FILM BADGES
Composed of 3 parts
> Film holder
> Metal filters
> Film packet

Contains
photographic emulsion
mounted in plastic and then
over-wrapped in light-tight
paper
 Film holder
 Plastic with stainless steel lining
Is capable of holding one or more films
of size 4×3cm,wrapped inside light tight
cover.

2 films-slow and fast.

Types of film holders

 There are 3 types of holders

a) Head holder
b) Wrist holder
c) Chest holder
 FILTERS OF HOLDER

6 filters
-Open
-Plastic
-Cadmium
-Thin copper
-Thick copper
-Lead
 Filters asses the penetrating power of
radiation.

 Each metal attenuates photons of

different energy values

 Permit the energy to be estimated.

 Identify alpha,beta,gamma,neutron,low
enery & high energy x-rays..
(10 kev to 2Mev)

 Metal filters reduce photon energy to

levels which are optimal for photographic
emulsions.
RADIATION-DOSIMETRY FILM
INSIDE THE FILM BADGE.

 It is similar to dental film

 Sensitive to doses ranges from

as low as 0.1mSv to as high as
5000mSv .

 Doses less than 0.1mSv are not

usually detected.
Films
2 films-slow and fast.
 Slow film – coated with a fine grain, is
less sensitive to exposure, meant for
recording high exposure.
 Fast film - coated with a large grain, is
sensitive to low levels of exposure.
 Ifthe radiation exposure causes the
fast emulsion in the processed film
to be darkened to a degree that it
cannot be interpreted,
the fast emulsion is removed and
the dose is computed using the
slow emulsion
Detection of radiation

 When radiation is absorbed in film

emulsion, some Ag halide grains are
altered.
 It form the latent image, respond
differently to developers and are
reduced to Ag metal at much faster
rate than unaffected grains.
 Optical density of Ag is proportional
to radiation exposure.
 The BARC supplies the film for a
period of 4 weeks
 Film density is compared to that
of films exposed to standard
doses of radiation of similar
energy to estimate absorbed
radiation dose
 Doses are reported in mSv.
 The min dose that a film badge
can detect is 0.2mSv
CONTROL BADGE
 The monitoring company provides a
control badge with each batch of badges

 Itserves as the basis of comparison with

remaining badges

 It should be keep in radiation free area

 Its optical density reading should be zero

Advantages
 Provides permanent record
of individual exposure
 Relatively less expensive
 Nature of exposure, type of
radiation& energy can be
evaluated
 Requires no technical knowledge
of user
 Film can be re-read at later date
DISADVANTAGE

 Itmust be developed and read by a

processor (which is time consuming)
 Not very accurate (qualitative vs
quantitative)
 prolonged heat exposure can affect
the film
 exposures of less than 20 millirem
of gamma radiation cannot be
accurately measured.
GUIDELINES FOR USING
FILM BADGE
1. To be only by persons directly working
in radiation
2. The name, personnel number,type of
radiation,period of use,location on the
body etc should be written in block
letters on the front side of the film.
3. A film pack once issued to a person
should not be used by any other
person.
4. Each institution must keep one control
film,loaded in a chest film holder
5. While leaving the premises of
institute, workers should keep
their badges in the place where
control film is kept .
6. A film holder without filter should
not be used
7. Should not leave the badge in
radiation area
 POCKET DOSIMETER

DOSIMETER—is a device to measure radiation

exposure absorbed at a point in a medium
exposed to ionizing radiations.

POCKET DOSIMETER—
 Most sensitive type of personnel dosimeter.
 Externally ,resembles an ordinary fountain
pain.
 Contains a thimble ionization chamber.
 Clip is present on eyepiece end allowing
dosimeter to be attached to an individuals
apparel (e.g. like a pen in a lab coat pocket).
 Thimble chamber
Thimble wall

Insulator

Air cavity
Central electrode

Outer electrode with air eq.wall.

Inner surface of wall is coated with conducting material like
graphite.
Central electrode-Al ;electrically insulated.
When radiation passes through ,ion pairs are formed in the air
cavity.
Ion pairs collected by the electrodes & is measured in terms of
ionization chargeQ.
Exposure X = Q/ D v
D =density of air
v =volume of air
Small in size.
Useful in routine measurements in hospitals
 TYPES

1. SELF-READING TYPE
2. NON-SELF-READING TYPE

 OPERATION PRICIPLES: similar to that

of the gold leaf electroscope, which
detects the presents and sign of an
electric charge.
 COMPONENTS

 Contains ionization chamber.

 Two electrodes;
-positively charged (central
electrode)
-negatively charged (outer
electrode)
Cont..

 Quartz fiber form a part of positive

electrode .
-function as the indicator
on the transparent reading
scale .
 In such a system the quartz fiber casts a
shadow onto a scale so that the quality of
charge on the positively charged electrode
determines the positron of the shadow along
the scale and is equivalent to the scale
reading.

 When the charged electrodes in the device

exposed to gamma or x-radiation , air
surrounding the central electrode (+)
becomes ionized and discharges the
mechanism in direct proportion to the
amount of rad. to which it has been exposed.
 SPECIAL CHARGING UNIT
 A special charging unit is required.
 It must be charged to a predetermined voltage
before use(quartz fiber indicator=0 reading).
 As it exposed to ionizing rad., it discharges and
fiber indicator advances along the scale in a
linear fashion.
 It shows net exposure in mill roentgens (mR).
 Pocket chambers generally used in medical
imaging are sensitive to exposures ranging
from
=0-5.2 x 10¯⁵c/kg(0-200mR).
Cont..

 Voltage = (150-200v) obtained from the

separate charger.
 Availability= in diff. ranges varying from
0-200mR, 0-2000 mR, 0-5000 mR, and 0-
10 R of x and gamma rays.
 Accuracy= ± 10 percent.
 ADVANTAGES

 Immediate reading / sensitive.

 Energy independent for a wide range of x
and gamma rays.
 Compact, easy to carry.
 Convenient to use.
 Reasonably accurate.
 Ideal monitoring device for procedures of
relatively short duration.
 DISADVANTAGES

 Fairly expensive(costing $ 150.00 or more

per unit).
 Does not provide permanent record.
 Sudden mechanical shock may result in
wrong reading.
 CONCLUSION

1. Types of personnel monitoring

devices?
2. Components of film badges?
3. Filters in film badges?
4. Control badge?
5. Ionisation chamber used in
pocket dosimeter?
6. Types of pocket dosimeter?
 REFERENCES

 Basic Radiological Physics-K Thayalan.

 Radiation
Protection in Medical
Radiography-

 ExtraSource-
(e)internet(www.google.com)
THANK YOU