title: Calibration of the delayed-gamma neutron activation facility.
abstract: The delayed-gamma neutron activation facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory was originally calibrated using an anthropomorphic hollow phantom filled with solutions containing predetermined amounts of Ca. However, 99% of the total Ca in the human body is not homogeneously distributed but contained within the skeleton. Recently, an artificial skeleton was designed, constructed, and placed in a bottle phantom to better represent the Ca distribution in the human body. Neutron activation measurements of an anthropomorphic and a bottle (with no skeleton) phantom demonstrate that the difference in size and shape between the two phantoms changes the total body calcium results by less than 1%. To test the artificial skeleton, two small polyethylene jerry-can phantoms were made, one with a femur from a cadaver and one with an artificial bone in exactly the same geometry. The femur was ashed following the neutron activation measurements for chemical analysis of Ca. Results indicate that the artificial bone closely simulates the real bone in neutron activation analysis and provides accurate calibration for Ca measurements. Therefore, the calibration of the delayed-gamma neutron activation system is now based on the new bottle phantom containing an artificial skeleton. This change has improved the accuracy of measurement for total body calcium. Also, the simple geometry of this phantom and the artificial skeleton allows us to simulate the neutron activation process using a Monte Carlo code, which enables us to calibrate the system for human subjects larger and smaller than the phantoms used as standards.
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Rarback
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasumura
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Dilmanian
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Lo Monte
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Vodopia
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Economos
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Aloia
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Vaswani
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Pierson
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Joel
mesh_terms: D001823:Body Composition; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry*; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009501:Neutron Activation Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium