In-situ radiation dosimetry based on radio-fluorogenic co-polymerization

Abstract

A fluorimetric method of radiation dosimetry is presented for which the intensity of the fluorescence of a (tissue equivalent) medium is linearly dependent on accumulated dose from a few Gray up to kiloGrays. The method is based on radio-fluorogenic co-polymerization (RFCP) in which a normally very weakly fluorescent molecule becomes highly fluorescent when incorporated into a (radiation-initiated) growing polymer chain. The method is illustrated with results of in-situ measurements within the chamber of a cobalt-60 irradiator. It is proposed that RFCP could form the basis for fluorimetric multi-dimensional dose imaging. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.