Performance Evaluation of an Ionization Chamber for Hp(3) Measurement

Abstract

Human eye lens is an organ vulnerable to radiation damage. Through self-developed human skull model, a spherical ionization chamber was embedded in the ball to directly measure the eye lens individual dose equivalent Hp(3). Aiming at the accuracy evaluation of Hp(3) in radiation environment, the following research was carried out in this paper: Firstly, the instrument was calibrated under the S-Cs γ-ray radiation quality condition specified in the GB/T 12162.1 standard, and a calibration factor was obtained, NH=1.19 μSv/pC. Then, the correction factors k(E,α) were determined under different energy and incident angle conditions. At the same time, the background current and polarization effect were experimentally measured. Without the correction of energy and incident angle, the relative error of the energy response was -0.9%-12.6% in the energy range of 33 keV-1.25 MeV, and the relative error of the angle response was -7.9%-0% in the range of -60°-60°. At the same time, the factors affecting the accuracy of the measured value of the chamber were discussed. The relative expanded uncertainty of the calibration factor was 5.6% (k=2); when the energy and incident angle were known and unknown, the relative expanded uncertainty of the measured value of Hp(3) were 9.4% (k=2) and 18% (k=2) respectively. For radiation fields with unknown energy and incident angle, the Hp(3) value in the radiation field can be obtained directly by using the ionization chamber within the uncertainty range. This study can provide a reference for the accurate measurement of individual dose equivalent of eye lens.

Keywords

• metrology
• hp(3) ionization chamber
• calibration factor
• correction factor