Patent ID: 9528951
Filing Date: 2016-12-27
CPC Classification: A61B,G01N,G21G

Claim Text:
1. A method to determine a concentration of a target element in a sample, the method comprising: (i) positioning a sample containing a target element with respect to a reference material containing a reference element, where the target element is distinct from the reference element; (ii) simultaneously irradiating the sample and the reference material with Bremsstrahlung X-rays to thereby produce activated nuclei in the target element and to produce activated nuclei in the reference element; (iii) detecting deactivation gamma-rays from the irradiated sample and deactivation gamma-rays from the irradiated reference material; (iv) determining a first number of detected deactivation gamma-rays from the irradiated sample and a second number of detected deactivation gamma-rays from the reference material; and (v) determining the concentration of the target element in the sample by first normalising the first number of detected deactivation gamma-rays from the irradiated sample by the second number of detected deactivation gamma-rays from the reference material; (vi) wherein the variation of the reference element to target element cross section ratio over a range of electron beam energies is less than a predetermined measurement accuracy.