NON-VISIBLE PARTICLE DETECTION BASED ON SMART PHONE

• US 20120273688A1
• Filed: 01/21/2012
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Applied Research Laboratories (Government of The Republic of China)
• Original Assignee: National Applied Research Laboratories (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: TSAI, DIN PING, WU, CHIH-CHIEH, LIAO, TAI-SHAN, HUANG, CHI-HUNG
• Granted Patent: US 8,735,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/370.07
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 1/023 Scintillation dose-rate meters
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 7/00 Details of radiation-measuring instruments

Abstract

A non-visible particle detection device includes an optical module capable of converting an ionizing radiation into visible light. The optical module includes has an attachment unit that is configured to removably attach the optical module to the image capturing module of a mobile device. The image capturing module generates a photon digital image based on the photons converted from the ionizing radiation. The mobile device can be implemented with a radiation dose determining module to execute a radiation dose equivalent calculation method. Based on the pixel brightness analysis of the photon digital image, the radiation equivalent dose can be determined. This method sums up the total brightness of all pixels in the images, determines whether the total brightness is smaller than the minimum effective brightness, and determines the radiation equivalent dose when the total brightness is equal to or larger than the minimum effective brightness.

Claims

1. A non-visible particle detection device, comprising:

a mobile device having an image capturing module;

a removable optical module attached to the mobile device, the optical module converting non-visible particles into photons; and

a radiation dose determining module implemented in the mobile device;

wherein the image capturing module generates a photon digital image from the photons and the radiation dose determining module determines a radiation equivalent dose of the non-visible particles based on the total brightness.

2. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is provided with two functional keys for activating and deactivating the radiation dose determining module;

when the radiation dose determining module is activated, a series of operation steps of a radiation equivalent dose calculation method are shown on the mobile device to allow a user to perform and obtain the radiation equivalent dose; and

when the radiation dose determining module is deactivated, the non-visible particle detection device acts as the mobile device.

3. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 1, wherein the optical module includes a housing having a cylindrical optical chamber with an opening, a reflective layer of barium sulfate coated on the inner wall of the housing in the cylindrical optical chamber, a conversion medium disposed in the cylindrical optical chamber of the housing, and an attachment unit disposed on one end of the housing adjacent to the opening, and wherein the attachment unit attaches the optical module to the mobile device and has a through hole corresponding to the cylindrical optical chamber of the housing.

4. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 3, wherein the conversion medium comprises a surface-polished scintillation crystal of Bismuth germinate (Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂) or sodium iodide doped with thallium (NaI(Tl)).

5. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 3, wherein a further reflective layer is coated on the attachment unit and faces the cylindrical optical chamber.

6. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 3, wherein the non-visible particle includes gamma ray, the conversion medium converts the gamma ray passing through the housing into the photons, and the photons exit the housing from a light emitting hole of the optical module into the image capturing module.

7. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 1, wherein the radiation determining module includes a comparison unit for determining whether a total brightness of all pixels of the photon digital images obtained is smaller than a minimum effective brightness, a brightness summation unit for determine the total brightness by summing up the intensities of all pixels of the photon digital images obtained, and a radiation dose determining unit for determining the radiation equivalent dose including a total radiation equivalent dose, an average radiation equivalent dose, and a radiation equivalent dose energy spectrum.

8. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 7, wherein the image capturing module obtains a series of photon digital images until the comparison unit determines that the total brightness of all pixels of the photon digital images is equal to or larger than the minimum effective brightness.

9. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 7, wherein the radiation determining module further includes a brightness averaging unit for obtaining the average brightness and a brightness histogram unit for generating the brightness histogram of the photon digital image.

10. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 9, wherein the radiation determining unit transforms the total brightness, the average brightness of pixel, and the brightness histogram into the total radiation equivalent dose, the average radiation equivalent dose, and the radiation equivalent dose energy spectrum, respectively.

11. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 9, wherein the photon digital image is a two-dimensional image having a size of M×

N, wherein M and N are positive integers, the brightness of a pixel in the coordinates (x,y) is given as I_i=GrayScale (P_i(x,y)), wherein GrayScale (•

) is a function of brightness, and the total brightness I_TOT is given as;

12. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 11, wherein the average brightness I_ACG is given as I_ACG=I_TOT/(M×

N).

13. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 11, wherein the brightness histogram unit generates the brightness histogram based on an one-dimensional function (m_i) to calculate the amount of the pixel of each brightness range and the brightness histogram is given as:

14. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 11, wherein the radiation equivalent dose is given as:

15. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 14, wherein the total radiation equivalent dose E_TOT is given as:

16. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 14, wherein the average radiation equivalent dose E_AVG is given as:

17. The non-visible particle detection device of claim 14, wherein the radiation equivalent dose energy spectrum E_TOT is given as:

18. A method for determining a radiation equivalent dose of non-visible particles by a mobile device having an image capturing module, comprising:

attaching an optical module to the mobile device, wherein the optical module converts non-visible particles into photons and the photons enter the image capturing module;

obtaining a photon digital image from the photons by the image capturing module;

determining whether a total brightness of all pixels of the photon digital image obtained is smaller than a minimum effective brightness; and

if the total brightness is equal to or larger than the minimum effective brightness, determining the radiation equivalent dose of the non-visible particles based on the total brightness.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein if the total brightness is smaller than the minimum effective brightness, repeating the step of obtaining the photon digital image to obtain a plurality of photon digital images and determining the total brightness by summing up the intensities of the photon digital images obtained until the total brightness is equal to larger than the minimum effective brightness.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising a step of storing the radiation equivalent dose, a step of informing the user of the radiation equivalent dose by text message or audio sound, or a step of transmitting the radiation equivalent dose to others through a network to a cloud database.