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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Radiation Detectors and Imaging
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1490048

Method for the use of polymer beads as dosimeters for low-energy electron irradiation

Provisionally accepted
Joana Kira Besecke Joana Kira Besecke 1Lysann Kenner Lysann Kenner 1André Poremba André Poremba 1Jessy Schönfelder Jessy Schönfelder 2Tobias Teichmann Tobias Teichmann 1Martin Thoma Martin Thoma 3Thomas Grunwald Thomas Grunwald 2Elizabeth Von Hauff Elizabeth Von Hauff 1,4Ulla Koenig Ulla Koenig 1Bjoern Poppe Bjoern Poppe 5Simone Schopf Simone Schopf 1*
  • 1 Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology, Dresden, Germany
  • 2 Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 3 Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 4 Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering Sciences, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 5 University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A novel bead-based dosimetry system has been developed. This approach uses suspended polymethyl methacrylate beads, which experience a dose dependent change of the fluorescence intensities. The beads were diluted in deionized water and exposed to low-energy electron irradiation. Afterwards, the beads were analyzed by flow cytometry. The mean fluorescence of these beads increased with radiation dose in the range of 10-50 kGy. Thus, flow cytometric fluorescence measurements allow dose mapping: The signal of each bead could be assigned to a corresponding dose. The correlation between dose and fluorescence intensity of the beads was previously examined by irradiation with a high-energy electron beam. The presented method shows potential for dosimetry in liquids for quality control in biotechnological or pharmaceutical applications using low-energy electron irradiation, as the method is easy to handle, not limited to solid state geometry and suitable for static and dynamic irradiation setups of liquids. This novel method provides information about the dose distribution in the investigated volume of liquid by being capable of analyzing individual beads. This provides information about average, minimum and maximum dose values as well their actual distribution function, which is a big advantage to other methods of liquid dosimetry where only the mean value can be obtained.

    Keywords: Dosimetry, liquid dosimeters, fluorescence, Beads, Low-energy electron irradiation, process monitoring

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Besecke, Kenner, Poremba, Schönfelder, Teichmann, Thoma, Grunwald, Von Hauff, Koenig, Poppe and Schopf. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Simone Schopf, Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.