Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Literature review -- Interaction of radiation with matter -- Radiation dosimetry -- Materials and methods -- Results -- Discursion. / Access to thesis permanenty restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

Access to abstract restricted until 05/2016. / Access to thesis restricted until 05/2016. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

An experimental method (the two-dose-rate method) for the correction of general recombination losses in liquid ionization chambers has been developed and employed in experiments with different liquids and radiation qualities. The method is based on a disassociation of initial and general recombination, since an ionized liquid is simultaneously affected by both of these processes. The two-dose-rate method has been compared to an existing method for general recombination correction for liquid ionization chambers, and has been found to be the most robust method presently available. The soundness of modelling general recombination in liquids on existing theory for gases has been evaluated, and experiments indicate that the process of general recombination is similar in a gas and a liquid. It is thus reasonable to employ theory for gases in the two-dose-rate method to achieve experimental corrections for general recombination in liquids. There are uncertainties in the disassociation of initial and general recombination in the two-dose-rate method for low applied voltages, where initial recombination has been found to cause deviating results for different liquids and radiation qualities. Sensitivity to ambient electric fields has been identified in the microLion liquid ionization chamber (PTW, Germany). Experimental data may thus be perturbed if measurements are conducted in the presence of ambient electric fields, and the sensitivity has been found to increase with an increase in the applied voltage. This can prove to be experimentally limiting since general recombination may be too severe for accurate corrections if the applied voltage is low.

Early detection is one of the most important factors in the survival of patients diagnosed with breast cancer. For this reason the development of improved screening mammography methods is one of primary importance. One problem that is present in standard planar mammography, which is not solved with the introduction of digital mammography, is the possible masking of lesions by normal breast tissue because of the inherent collapse of three-dimensional anatomy into a two-dimensional image. Digital tomosynthesis imaging has the potential to avoid this effect by incorporating into the acquired image information on the vertical position of the features present in the breast. Previous studies have shown that at an approximately equivalent dose, the contrast-detail trends of several tomosynthesis methods are better than those of planar mammography. By optimizing the image acquisition parameters and the tomosynthesis reconstruction algorithm, it is believed that a tomosynthesis imaging system can be developed that provides more information on the presence of lesions while maintaining or reducing the dose to the patient. Before this imaging methodology can be translated to routine clinical use, a series of issues and concerns related to tomosynthesis imaging must be addressed. This work investigates the relevant physical processes to improve our understanding and enable the introduction of this tomographic imaging method to the realm of clinical breast imaging. The processes investigated in this work included the dosimetry involved in tomosynthesis imaging, x-ray scatter in the projection images, imaging system performance, and acquisition geometry. A comprehensive understanding of the glandular dose to the breast during tomosynthesis imaging, as well as the dose distribution to most of the radiosensitive tissues in the body from planar mammography, tomosynthesis and dedicated breast computed tomography was gained. The analysis of the behavior of x-ray scatter in tomosynthesis yielded an in-depth characterization of the variation of this effect in the projection images. Finally, the theoretical modeling of a tomosynthesis imaging system, combined with the other results of this work was used to find the geometrical parameters that maximize the quality of the tomosynthesis reconstruction.

The Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory (ERL) at iThemba LABS undertakes experimental work using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector for laboratory measurements. In this study the Monte Carlo transport code, MCNPX, which is a general-purpose Monte Carlo N &minus / Particle code that extends the capabilities of the MCNP code, developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, was used. The study considers how various parameters such as (1) coincidence summing, (2) volume, (3) atomic number (Z) and (4) density, affects the absolute photopeak efficiency of the ERL&rsquo / s HPGe detector in a close geometry (Marinelli beaker) for soil, sand, KCl and liquid samples. The results from these simulations are presented here, together with an intercomparison exercise of two MC codes (MCNPX and a C++ program developed for this study) that determine the energy deposition of a point source in germanium spheres of radii 1 cm and 5 cm.<br /> <br /> A sensitivity analysis on the effect of the detector dimensions (dead layer and core of detector crystal) on the photopeak detection efficiency in a liquid sample and the effect of moisture content on the photopeak detection efficiency in sand and soil samples, was also carried out. This study has shown evidence that the dead layer of the ERL HPGe detector may be larger than stated by the manufacturer, possibly due to warming up of the detector crystal. This would result in a decrease in the photopeak efficiency of up to 8 % if the dead layer of the crystal were doubled from its original size of 0.05 cm. This study shows the need for coincidence summing correction factors for the gamma lines (911.1 keV and 968.1 keV) in the 232Th series for determining accurate activity concentrations in environmental samples. For the liquid source the gamma lines, 121.8 keV, 244.7 keV, 444.1 keV and 1085.5 keV of the 152Eu series, together with the 1173.2 keV and 1332.5 keV gamma lines of the 60Co, are particularly prone to coincidence summing. In the investigation into the effects of density and volume on the photopeak efficiency for the KCl samples, it has been found that the simulated results are in good agreement with experimental data. For the range of sample densities that are dealt with by the ERL it has been found that the drop in photopeak efficiency is less than 5 %. This study shows that the uncertainty of the KCl sample activity measurement due to the effect of different filling volumes in a Marinelli beaker is estimated in the range of 0.6 % per mm and is not expected to vary appreciably with photon energy. In the case of the effect of filling height on the efficiency for the soil sample, it was found that there is a large discrepancy in the trends of the simulated and experimental curves. This discrepancy could be a result of the use of only one sand sample in this study and therefore the homogeneity of the sample has to be investigated. The effect of atomic number has been found to be negligible for the soil and sand compositions for energies above 400 keV, however if the composition of the heavy elements is not properly considered when simulating soil and sand samples, the effect of atomic number on the absolute photopeak efficiency in the low energy (&lt / 400 keV) region can make a 14 % difference.

<p>The natural &sup2 / &sup3 / ⁸U, &sup2 / &sup3 / &sup2 / Th and ⁴&deg / K radioactive content of vineyard soil was measured with an in-situ gamma-ray detector. The activity concentration measured with the in-situ detector are normalized using the laboratory-determined activity concentrations of several samples from the vineyard site. To determine the activity concentration of a particular soil sample, the gamma-ray photopeak detection efficiencies are required. In this work, the detection efficiencies were derived for each soil sample using gamma-ray photopeaks associated with the radionuclide of &sup2 / &sup3 / ⁸U, &sup2 / &sup3 / &sup2 / Th present in the sample, and the ⁴&deg / K, 1460.8 keV gamma-ray peak, from KCl salt.</p>

[Truncated abstract] Purpose: Permanent prostate brachytherapy (PPB) as a treatment option for prostate cancer requires implantation of 80-150 radioactive iodine-125 (I-125)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-70).

Thesis (M.Sc.(Hons.))--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1995. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Honours) in Physics at the University of Western Sydney, Nepean" -- T.p. Bibliography: leaves 123-128.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Hons.))--University of Western Sydney, Nepean. / Bibliography: leaves 104-108.