A new method for an improved determination of continuous photon fluence spectra for X-ray tube voltages up to 150 kV.
The experimental determination of bremsstrahlung spectra used in radiation protection dosimetry as well as in medical physics is generally composed of the following steps: acquisition of pulse-height spectra, determination of the detector's inherent response function and unfolding of the measured pulse-height spectra with this function. On the whole, this procedure leads to photon fluence spectra of good quality. It is, however, generally not completely free of artefacts. These occur at both the low- and high-energy sides of the spectrum, with a predominance at the low-energy side. In this work, a new method to overcome this problem is presented. It consists of reconstructing the distorted part of a spectrum on the basis of the total filtration pertinent to the radiation quality considered. The formalism is derived and the ability of the method to provide spectra free of artefacts is demonstrated.
Schneider
T
T
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany. thorsten.schneider@ptb.de
Kramer
H-M
HM
D000465:Algorithms; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D017785:Photons; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000379:methods*; D014965:X-Rays