METHOD FOR USE IN LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTING FOR DETECTING, RECORDING AND ANALYZING SCINTILLATION PHENOMENA

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for use in liquid scintillation counting for detecting, recording and analyzing scintillation phenomena due to ionizing radiation in a device comprising a measuring chamber into which the sample (1) is placed and which sample is measured by means of at least two light detectors (2, 3). According to the invention, the occurrences of the measurement are recorded so completely that the measurement can be reconstructed and the analyzing principle can be decided afterwards.

Description: METHOD FOR USE IN LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTING FOR DETECTING, RECORDING AND ANALYZING SCINTILLATION PHENOMENA The invention relates to a method for use in liquid scintillation counting for detecting, recording and analyzing scintillation phenomena due to ionizing radiation in a device comprising a measuring chamber into which the sample is placed and which sample is detected by means of at least two light detectors. Liquid scintillation counting is a generally known method for detecting radioactive radiation. The sample is placed in a bottle and the scintillation liquid is added thereto transforming the radiation of the sample into light pulses detected by the photomultiplier tube. There are two photomultipliers operating in coincidence and their combined signal is analyzed. The coincidence technique eliminates the background due to the thermal noise of the photomultipliers by accepting only the signals detected simultaneously by both tubes. The drawback of the above technique is the fact that, especially in the measurement of low active isotopes, it is difficult to identify and eliminate the background radiation components of liquid scintillation counting. Nowadays the most advanced devices like e.g. the 1220 Quantulus™ manufactured by Wallac Oy are provided, around the actual measuring chamber, with a guard detector which removes a major part of the occurences of the sample arising from external sources by means of anticoincidence technique. Furthermore, the liquid scintillation counters 1220 Quantulus™ and 1219 SM comprise a pulse shape analyzer which enables separation of the pulses produced by alfa and beta particles in the sample. An optimum separation requires, however, that right setting values are provided at the start of the measurement. Otherwise, the measurement will not succeed. The required settings are affected by e.g. the optical and/or the chemical state of the sample as well as the used scintillation liquid. Also, the photomultiplier tubes cause interference. For reducing background pulses from photomultiplier tubes (cross-talk), the above liquid scintillation counter is provided with an amplitude comparator accepting as real pulses from sample only those pulses which come from different tubes and which are of equal size within at selected accuracy. The optimum settings of the amplitude comparator depends on the state of the sample and the used scintillation liquid. The above mentioned liquid scintillation counters can be used to produce four spectra at the most from the sample by means of a multi-channel analyzer, which can be set in a versatile way to separate phenomena appearing in the sample according to the nature and origin of the radiation. Finding of the optimal settings for the pulse shape analyzer and the amplitude comparator requires, however, several test measurements to be performed beforehand. The object of the present invention is to remove above drawbacks and to obtain a new method which differs from the prior art and which does not have the above drawbacks. The invention is characterized in that the occurrences of the measurement are recorded so completely that the measurement can be reconstructed and the analyzing principle can be decided afterwards and desired items can be output. In the method according to the invention, each amplitude, pulse shape and pulse entry time of each phenomenon fulfilling the collecting criteria is digitized and recorded. At the same time, the state of the guard detector and that of the electromagnetic interference indicator are recorded. By means of these parameters the analysis which is done either during measuring or afterwards, produces an optimum result even from a single measurement. The method enables identification of the origin of particle and photon radiation which leading to a maximum performance of the device without any fixed preset parameter settings. Since searching of the preset parameter settings is avoided in the method of the invention, a lot of work is saved in the measurement. Furthermore and especially in measuring of low active samples, a significant amount of time is saved because even the mere test measurements are remarkably long due to low pulse frequency. The light pulse produced by a phenomenon taken place in the sample is detected by two photomultipliers. The amplitude of the detected light pulse is proportional to the energy released in the phenomenon but it can also be affected by the state of the sample itself like optical or chemical damping. Light pulses are also generated as a result of radiation from the environment in which case the ratio of the amplitudes of the pulses detected by the two photomultipliers on the average varies more than in cases of real radioactive decays taking place in the sample. In addition to normal energy spectra the device can produce the amplitude distribution and amplitude pulse shape distribution of different photomultiplier tubes. Based on time information, the number of pulses as a function of time, scattering diagram i.e. the successive time differences as a function of each other, the distribution function of the time difference and the autocorrelation function of the time difference can also be produced. The state of the guard detector and that of the interference indicator as well as the information on the pulse shapes and amplitudes are used for identification of the nature of the radiation. The radiations to be identified are alfa and beta radiation and cosmic radiation. Time information is a means for identifying the Poisson nature of the process and it effectively reveals possible deviating phenomena, which originate from interferences, even at the beginning of the computing. The recorded time information combined with the information on pulse shapes and pulse amplitudes enables, within the limits of the time resolution of the device, simultaneous identification of several particles from the spectra. When the pulses produced by the particles appear on different spectra or on different parts of the same spectrum, the interpretation is easy. It is in this way that e.g. alfa, beta, and X-ray radiation as well as Compton electrons are separated from each other. The invention will be described in the following by means of examples referring to the enclosed drawings, in which Figure 1 shows schematically the measuring system according to the invention. Figure 2 shows an alfa and a beta spectrum of radium-226 measured by a known liquid scintillation counter. Figure 3 shows an alfa and a beta spectrum of radium-226 measured by a liquid scintillation counter according to the invention. Figure 4 shows a beta spectrum of Bi-214 of the Ra-226 disintegration chain which is selected from figure 3 by means of the method according to the invention. Figure 5 shows an alfa spectrum of Po-214 of the Ra-226 disintegration chain, which is selected from figure 3 by means of the method according to the invention. Figure 6 shows a partial area A of figure 3 in a second co¬ ordinate system. Figure 7 shows a partial area B of figure 3 in a second co- ordinate system. Figure 8 corresponds to figure 3 and shows a second means for output. Figure 9 shows corresponds to figure 1 and shows a second embodiment of the measuring system. Figures 10-13 show schematically the operation of the pulse shape analyzer. Figure 1 shows schematically the measuring system according to the invention. Scintillations emanating from the sample 1, which is kept in a light-tight measuring chamber, are detected by the first light detector 2 and the second light detector 3. Outside the measuring chamber, there is provided a separate, a so-called guard detector 4 whose scintillations are detected by means of light detectors 5 and 6. Signals from light detectors 2, 3, 4, and 5 are led to an amplifier unit 9 and to a triggering unit 8. The signal of the first light detector 2 and that of the second light detector 3 are further connected to the analyzing circuit 10. Two analog-to-digital converters 12 and 13 are connected to the amplifier unit 9. It is also possible to have only one converter but two converters will speed up the measurement. The amplifier unit is programmable so that a desired combination of the following signals can be connected to the analog-to-digital converters 12 and 13: the signals from the first light detector 2 or the second light detector 3 either separately or their combined signal, the signal from one or both of the light detectors of guard detectors 5 or 6 or their sum signal. The analyzer 10 transforms the time dependence of the pulse amplitude, which is proportional to the number photons of the scintillation, into a voltage and is further connected to the analog-to-digital converter 14. The timing pulse from the triggering unit 8 controls the operation of the analog-to-digital converters 12-14 and tells the microprocessor the occurence of the phenomenon. Said timing pulse can be generated by the first light _ detector 2 or the second light detector 3 or their coincidence or delayed coincidence, one or both of the light detectors of the guard detectors or their coincidence as well as any combination of the above alternatives. The timing pulse also stores the states of the above mentioned signals and that of the electromagnetic interference detector 7 for the microprocessor 15. Furthermore, the timing pulse controls the operation of the pulse interval clock 11. The analog-to-digital converters 12-14, pulse interval clock 11, and the triggering unit 8 are connected to the microprocessor 15, which records a desired information about the occurence and sends it further to the microcomputer 16. Parameters of this kind are the amplitude of the first light detector 2 and that of the second light detector 3, the time dependence of the amplitude, the entry' time of the pulse and the state of the guard detector and that of the electromagnetic interference detector 7. The microcomputer 16 records the occurences to a mass memory unit during measuring. The original order of phenomena remains unchanged in the recording. Figure 2 shows alfa and beta spectra of radium-226 measured TM by the 1220 Quantulus liquid scintillation detector manufactured by Wallac Oy. In the figure, the PH (pulse height) i.e. the amplitude of the light detector pulse measured in different channels is presented on the horizontal axis and the number of pulses per channel marked by N is presented on the vertical axis. At the bottom of figure 2 there is a horizontal zone due to beta particles, wherefrom alfa particles are distinguished as sharp peaks. From the beta particle zone lead-210 can be clearly distinguished, but separation of lead-214 and bismuth-214 from each other is very difficult. Instead, the peaks of the alfa particles of radium-226, radon-222, polonium-218 and polonium 214 are clearly distinguished. However, the separation of alfa and beta particles shown in figure 2 can be only obtained in the way presented in the figure if the pulse shape analyzer is optimally preset. Figure 3 shows the alfa and beta spectra of radium-226 measured by a liquid scintillation counter according to the invention and presented in a different kind of co-ordinate system. The horizontal axis is the pulse height PH i.e. the signal amplitude of the light detector. The vertical axis is the pulse shape PS i.e. the signal amplitude of the light detector as a function of time. It can be seen from the measuring result that on the lower part of the figure there is a nearly uniform band-like formation, which is a beta band due to the detection of scintillation phenomena of beta particles like lead-210, lead-214 and bismuth-214. The dark, oval areas above it are caused by alfa particles. The larger one of them is due to alfa particles of radium-226, radon-222 and polonium-218. The smaller one is due to polonium-214. At the left edge of the figure there can also be seen an area marked Gl which is additional and which is caused by the luminescence of the glass measuring vial. Therefore, by means of the measuring method according to the invention alfa and beta particles can be separated from each other without any preset settings. By means of known technique the exact separation is difficult, at least without exhaustive setting measurements. However, the information presented in figure 3 can be further illustrated in many different ways. One way is to divide the figure into two parts by a line L. If the two zones divided by the line L are output in a normal way, the spectra of the kind of figure 2 are obtained. Since it has been possible to place the line L in an optimal way on basis of the information seen in figure 3, these spectra would give a better result than the result of figure 2 which is measured by the known technique. As a matter of fact, the result of figure 2 has been obtained by doing a number of setting measurements prior to the actual measurement and using a linear division in which case a straight line is used instead of line L. Figure 3 can be windowed using whatever curves by giving the co-ordinates of the curve points in the co-ordinate system defined by pulse height PH and pulse shape PS. As an example, windows A and B have been presented which in the exemplary case are rectangular. The information obtainable from them is presented figures 6 and 7 in a co-ordinate system whose horizontal axis is the pulse height PH and the vertical axis the number of pulses N per channel. From the measuring result of figure 3 the frequency of occurrence N of the detected pulses is readily obtained through investigation of the darkness of the areas generated in the recording of the scintillation phenomena. Darker areas mean higher number of pulses and correspond the peaks of the alfa and beta particles in figures 2, 6 and 7. A second way to illustrate the measuring result of figure 3 is to use different colors in outputting the figure to represent the number of pulses belonging to the same point. In this case colour expresses the number of pulses at each point of the figure. From a black and white figure it can merely be concluded on basis of darkness wether in some point there is more pulses than in some other point. In this way, from the information of the figure, a third dimension expressing the number of pulse is obtained in addition to pulse height and pulse shape. A third possibility is to make a three dimensional output where the third axis is the number of pulses of the point. This situation is illustrated in figure 8 which has contour lines drawn in a two-dimensional co-ordinate system. By means of the contour lines the same peaks of the alfa particles can be readily read as seen in figures 2, 6 and 7. Figure 4 shows the beta spectrum of bismuth-214 of the radium-226 disintegration chain which is obtained from the measuring result of figure 3 by accepting only those beta disintegrations from those of other beta daughters which have a time difference less than 1 ms to a polonium-214 alfa disintegration. Figure 5 shows a polonium-214 alfa spectrum of a radium- 216 disintegration chain separated from the measuring result of figure 3 which is selected from other alfa daughters by accepting only those alfa disintegrations that have a time difference less than 1 ms to any preceding beta disintegration. The half life of polonium-214 is 164 μs. From the measuring result the spectrum of cosmic radiation can also be analyzed from which the state of the sample can be deduced as a function of time. In this case, the damping due to the sample is continuously monitored. Reason for the changes in the sample can be e.g. that it segregates into different phases. An essentially simpler measuring device can thus be obtained since no expensive external standards are required. During measuring all pulses are accepted. Separation is done afterwards in the analysis. Figure 9 shows a second embodiment of the measuring system according to the invention. Scintillations coming from the sample 101 kept in a light-tight measuring chamber are detected by means of the first light detector 102 and the second light detector 103. Outside the measuring chamber there is a separate guard detector 104 and the scintillations coming therefrom are detected by means of the light detectors 105 and 106. The signals from the light detectors 102, 103, 105 and 106 are led to the holding unit 120 and to the triggering unit 108. The signal of the first light detector 102 and that of the second light detector 103 are additionally connected to the pulse shape analyzing circuit 110. The micro¬ processor 115 selects by means of the selector circuit 121 the signal to be carried to the A/D converter 114. The signals that can be selected are the temperature given by the thermometer 122, pulse heights given by the light detectors 102, 103, 105 and 106, the pulse shape given by the pulse shape analyzing circuit 110 and the entry time difference of the pulses given by the time difference/ voltage transformer 111. The pulse shape analyzer 110 integrates the pulses of the light detectors 102 and 103 using one or more fixed time intervals. The time interval starts at the beginning of the pulses of the light detectors 102 and 103 after the initial time delay, which is changeable. Alternatively, the pulse shape analyzer samples several times using different time intervals. The timing pulse from the triggering unit 108 informs the microprocessor 115 of the occurrence of the phenomenon. The above mentioned timing pulse can be produced by the first light detector 102 or the second light detector 103 or the light detector 105 or 106 of the guard detector 104. The .timing pulse also stores the states of the above mentioned signals and that of the electromagnetic interference indicator 107 for the microprocessor 115. Furthermore, the pulses of the light detectors 102 and 103 control the operation of the pulse interval clock 117. The analog-to-digital converter 114, the clock 117 and the triggering unit 108 are connected to the microprocessor 115, which records desired information about the occurrence and sends it further to the microcomputer 116. The microcomputer 116 stores the occurrences to a mass memory unit during measuring. For calibrating the device, the microprocessor 115 can initiate the triggering of the pulse by means of a calibrating trigger unit 118. The zeros of the light detectors 102, 103, 105 and 106 as well as the units 110 and 111 can thereby be measured. The calibrating trigger unit 118 can supply the time difference/ voltage transformer 111 with two pulses which have a known time difference and by which the sensitivity of the time difference/ voltage transformer 111 can be measured. Figure 10 shows two different pulse shape curves, which represent the amplitude of -pulse and β-pulse as a function of time. Figure 11 shows schematically the operation of the pulse shape analyzer. The pulse shapes of figure 10 can be registered so that the pulse shape analyzer integrates the pulses of the light detectors in this embodiment using several fixed time intervals t m . The first time interval starts at the beginning of the light detector pulse after an initial time delay t 0 . Then, the initial time delay is changed so that the next time interval t m starts right after the previous one. Figure 12 shows schematically operation of the pulse shape analyzer according to another embodiment. In this example, the pulse shapes of figure 10 can be registered so that the pulse shape analyzer integrates the light detector pulses using several different time intervals t χ , t 2 and t 3 . Each time interval starts at the same time i.e. at the beginning of the light detector pulse after the initial time delay V Figure 13 shows operation of the pulse shape analyzer, wherein the pulse shape analyzer integrates the light detector pulse without initial time delay using such a long time interval t s that the whole pulse is integrated. Thus one can measure the overall height of the pulse i.e. its amplitude. It is obvious to the specialist in the field that different embodiments of the invention can vary within the limits of claims presented hereinafter.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Method for use in liquid scintillation counting for detecting, recording and analyzing scintillation phenomena due to ionizing radiation in a device comprising a measuring chamber into which the sample (1) is placed and which sample is detected by means of at least two light detectors (2, 3) characterized in that the occurrences of the measurement are recorded so completely that the measurement can be reconstructed and the analyzing principle can be decided afterwards and desired items can be output. 2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that during measuring the signal amplitudes of the at least two light detectors (2, 3) are recorded and that during computing the sum spectrum is calculated from the pulse heights. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that during measuring the pulse shape signal is recorded by measuring the integral of the sum current of the photomultipliers (2, 3) from the beginning of the first arriving signal using a fixed time interval (T m , T x , T 2 , T 3 , T s ) and that during computing the pulse shape signal is used for background substraction. 4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterized in that two or more of the following parameters of the occurences of the measurement are recorded: - the signal amplitudes of at least two light detectors (2, 3), - the signal amplitudes of at least two light detectors (2, 3) as a function of time i.e. the signal shapes, - the times of the detected occurrences of at least two light detectors (2, 3), - the inactivity of the state of the guard detector (4) or the pulse amplitude, the activity/inactivity of the state of the electromagnetic interference indicator (7) like an antenna, and that during computing the pulse shape signal is used for separating -radiation from β-radiation together with the sum of the amplitudes of the light detector (2, 3) signals. 5. Method according to any of the claims 1-4 characterized in that during measuring the time difference between the front edges of the pulses obtained by means of the photomultipliers (2 and 3) from the measuring pulses are recorded and that during computing those pairs of pulses can be collected using a desired coincidence time whose entry times differ less than the coincidence time. 6. Method according to any of the claims 1-5 characterized in that each detected occurences of the measuring sequence is described by at least four of the mentioned parameters, and that in computing the random coincidence subtraction is performed by calculating from the total number of pulses. 7. Method according to any of the claims 1-6 characterized in that in the measurement the background substraction is calculated from the ratio of pulse heights of the photomultipliers (2 and 3) . 8. Method according to any of the claims 1-7 characterized in that, in the measurement, colour correction is calculated from the ratio of pulse heights of the photomultipliers (2 and 3) . 9. Method according to any of the claims 1-8 characterized in that from the measurement the spectrum of cosmic radiation is analyzed from which the state of the sample is deduced as a function of time, which are e.g. colour extinction, extinction and the existence of two phases. 10. Method according to any of the claims 1-9 characterized in that, on basis of the times of occurences, mutually time correlating phenomena are identified for. finding possible sources of error. 11. Method according to any of the claims 1-10 characterized in that, on basis of the times of occurences, mutually time correlating phenomena are identified for detecting possible discharges of static electricity. 12. Method according to any of the claims 1-11 characterized in that the calibration of the error due to the structure of the electronic circuit is done at the same time as the measurement utilizing the zero point of the amplitude, and that a measurement is triggered without a radiation pulse whereby the zeros of the amplitudes and that of the entry time difference are obtained as a result. 13. Method according to any of the claims 1-12 characterized in that the entry time difference indicator is calibrated so that the time difference indicator of the photomultipliers (2, 3) is triggered by means of two pulses having known time differences whereby the sensitivity of said circuit is obtained as a result. 14. Method according to any of the claims 1-13 characterized in that calibration for temperature compensation is performed so that measurements are done at two or more different temperatures, and that correction coefficients are calculated from the results which coefficients are used in actual measuring of samples. 15. Method according to any of the claims 1-14 characterized in that, from the occurences of the measurement, at least the combined amplitude of the signals of two photomultipliers (2, 3) is recorded as a function of time i.e. the shape of the sum signal. 16. Method according to any of the claims 1-15 characterized in that the pulse height, pulse shape i.e. the pulse amplitude as a function of time, the state of the guard detector and the state of the electromagnetic interference indicator are always measured in the measurement. 17. Method according to any of the claims 1-16 characterized in that, by means of the times of the occurences, a time series analysis is performed for revealing periodically repeating interferences, discharges of static electricity and chemiluminescence. 18. Method according to any of the claims 1-17 characterized in that, by means of the time series analysis, at least one of the following is produced: the time difference distribution function, - scattering diagram indicating the successive time differences as -a function of each other, the time difference autocorrelation function revealing deviations from Poisson distribution. 19. Method according to any of the claims 1-18 characterized in that, if the time correlating phenomena are separable also on basis of the amplitude and/or the pulse shape then, by means of time information, a measuring situation with a particularly low background is achieved.

Inventors: KAIHOLA LAURI, MAENTYNEN PERTTI, NURMI JARMO, KAIHOLA, LAURI, MAENTYNEN, PERTTI, NURMI, JARMO
Applicants: WALLAC OY
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G01T1
IPC codes: G01T1