The device consists of a flexible and scalable substrate of ionizing radiation detectors which can ensure real-time localization of radioactivity in exposed environments.
| Patent title | Detection system of ionizing radiation emitted by sources, such as radiopharmaceuticals, radioactive samples and the like, detection sensors and detection method |
|---|---|
| Thematic area | Health |
| Ownership | IRCCS, ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA' DI BOLOGNA |
| Inventors | FEDERICA FIORONI, LORENZO PIERGALLINI, MAURO IORI, Beatrice Fraboni, Laura Basiricò, Andrea Ciavatti |
| Protection | Italy, with the possibility to extend internationally |
| Licensing status | Available for development, option, licensing and other enhancement agreements |
| Keywords | detector, sensor, radioactivity, contamination, radiopharmaceutical, radiation |
| Filed on | 26 July 2022 |
In work environments involving the use of unsealed radioactive substances, there are increasingly frequent risks of contamination of objects and/or surfaces. In such environments, there is a high risk of object and surface contamination. All this led to the idea to create a millimetric surface covering acting as a contaminometer.
The device consists of a multilayer sheet acting as a detector of ionizing radiations. Each sheet can be combined or connected to other similar modules, so as to cover horizontal or vertical surfaces up to 40 cm x 40. Each detector is made of a plastic substrate, an active layer, and an insulating waterproof polymeric covering. The active layer is deposited directly on the plastic substrate and contains an organic and/or hybrid semiconducting material and the electrical contacts. These detectors are connected to LEDs and/or to monitoring screens for localizing the area subject to contamination.
The device allows direct detection of potential surface contamination and real-time visual localization thanks to the integrated LEDs it includes and/or to a monitoring screen. The constituting materials make the device washable (or
even disposable), readily reusable, with a life cycle of use ranging from a few days to months, and replaceable once it has become obsolete. The use of innovative, highly performing, low-cost materials which can be processed on large surfaces, allowing the creation of sensitive coatings not otherwise achievable with traditional and consolidated electronic components on the market.