Dosimetric characterization of the irradiation cavity for accelerator-based in vivo neutron activation analysis

A neutron irradiation cavity for in vivo activation analysis has been characterized to estimate its dosimetric specifications. The cavity is defined to confine irradiation to the hand and modifies the neutron spectrum produced by a low energy accelerator neutron source to optimize activation per dose. Neutron and gamma-ray dose rates were measured with the microdosimetric technique using a tissue-equivalent proportional counter at the hand irradiation site and inside the hand access hole. For the outside of the cavity, a spherical neutron dose equivalent meter and a Farmer dosemeter were employed instead due to the low intensity of the radiation field. The maximum dose equivalent rate at the outside of the cavity was 2.94 microSv/100 microA min, which is lower by a factor of 1/2260 than the dose rate at the hand irradiation position. The local dose contributions from a hand, an arm and the rest of a body to the effective dose rate were estimated to be 1.73, 0.782 and 2.94 microSv/100 microA min, respectively. For the standard irradiation protocol of the in vivo hand activation, 300 microA min, an effective dose of 16.3 microSv would be delivered.