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This paper reports the near space ballooning experiment carried out at Australian outback town West Wyalong (33°51′S, 147°24′E) on 19 July 2015. Several dedicated electronic detectors including digital temperature and acceleration (vibration) sensors and an energy compensated PIN-diode gamma ray dosimeter were installed in a thermally insulated Styrofoam payload box. A 9 V Lithium-Polymer battery powered all the devices. The payload box was attached to a helium-filled latex weather balloon and set afloat. The balloon reached a peak burst altitude of 30 km and then soft-landed aided by a self-deploying parachute 66.2 km away form the launch site. The payload box was retrieved and data collected from the electronic sensors analysed. The integrated cosmic ray induced photon ambient dose equivalent recorded by the PIN diode detector was evaluated to be 0.36 ± 0.05 μSv. Furthermore, a high-altitude extended version of commercially available aviation dosimetry package EPCARD.Net ( E uropean P rogram package for the C alculation of A viation R oute D oses) was used to calculate the ambient dose equivalents during the balloon flight. The radiation environment originated from the secondary cosmic ray shower is composed of neutrons, protons, electrons, muons, pions and photons. The photon ambient dose equivalent estimated by the EPCARD.Net code found to be 0.47 ± 0.09 μSv. The important aspects of balloon based near-space radiation dosimetry are highlighted in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop an alpha dosimetry technique for activity calibration of alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals using the Gafchromic EBT3 (Gaf-EBT3) radio chromic film (International Speciality product, Wayne, NJ). Methods: The Gaf-EBT3 has a tissue equivalent radiosensitive layer (approximately 28p,m) sandwiched between two 100-μm thick polyester sheaths, thereby making it insensitive to alpha particles. We have split a Gaf-EBT3 sheet using a surgical scalpel to remove one of the polyester protective layers and covered the radiosensitive layer with thin Mylar* foil (Goodfellow Cambridge Limited, Huntingdon, UK) (2.5μm). Small pieces of modified film were exposed at contact with a 560-Bq thin 241Am source for 5, 10, 24 and 94 h. The optical density of the films was evaluated using an optical densitometer. The alpha energy spectra of the 241Am source were recorded using a Si(Li) surface barrier detector. Results: Time-integrated specific alpha surface activity ( kBq cm-2h) was represented as a function of optical density. Conclusion: By removing one of the 100 μm thick polyester protective layers, the authors have modified the Gaf- EBT3 film to a sensitive alpha dosemeter. The calibration function relevant to a 241,Am reference source was evaluated from the optical densities of the dosemeter foils. Furthermore, calibration functions for important alpha emitters such as 223Ra, 225Ac or 210Bi were parameterized from the 241Am reference data. Advances in knowledge: The authors have developed and tested the principle of a clinical alpha dosemeter using Gaf-EBT3 radiochromic films originally developed for photon dosimetry. This novel, user-friendly technique could be implemented in quality assurance and calibration procedures of important alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals prior to their clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photon radiation induced decolourisation of radiochromic film changes its optical density. The photon dose is thereby evaluated as a function of optical density. The detection limit of common radiochromic films lies between 1 cGy and 20 Gy. This paper describes a novel evaluation method of radiochromic films using cosine-distance analysis of the RGB-colour vectors instead of conventional optical density measurements using a scanner in transmission mode. This allows extending the detection limit to excess of 40 Gy. • Gaf-EBT3 radiochromic films exposed to photons from 6 MV linac. • RGB colour histogram constructed using ImageJ program. • Cosine-distance (CD) calculated using RGB colour vectors. • Photon doses presented as a function of CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]