A measurement of the fast-neutron sensitivity of a Geiger-Müller detector in the pulsed neutron beam from a superconducting cyclotron

Phys Med Biol. 1996 Aug;41(8):1341-51. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/41/8/007.

Abstract

The kU value of a commercially available miniature energy compensated Geiger-Müller (GM) detector has been determined using the modified lead attenuation method of Hough. The measurements were made in a d(48.5)-Be neutron beam produced by the superconducting cyclotron based neutron therapy facility at Harper Hospital. The unique problems associated with making measurements in a 2 ms duration pulsed beam with a 20% duty cycle are discussed. The beam monitoring system, which allows the beam pulse shape at low beam intensities to be measured, is described. By gating the GM output with a discriminator pulse derived from the beam pulse shape, the gamma-ray count rates and dead-time corrections within the 2 ms pulse and between pulses can be measured separately. The kU value of (0.0245 +/- 0.0015) determined for this GM detector is consistent with the values measured by other workers with identical and similar detectors in neutron beams with comparable, but not identical, neutron spectra.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Biophysical Phenomena
  • Biophysics
  • Cyclotrons* / statistics & numerical data
  • Fast Neutrons / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Radiometry / instrumentation*
  • Radiometry / statistics & numerical data
  • Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / statistics & numerical data
  • Sensitivity and Specificity