JP2003194943A - Dose reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dose reader in which the influence of the correction state of a warpage in a dose readout magazine is small and by which a dose can be read out stably for a long period. <P>SOLUTION: A guide block 3 and a guide block 4 which are used to position the dose readout magazine 10 are attached to both end parts in the longitudinal direction of the magazine 10 on the surface of a movable table 1, and a presser lever 21 is attached to the surface of the guide block 3 so as to be rotatable by a hinge 22. An opening 23 is formed in the central part of the presser lever 21 in a position corresponding to an opening window 13 for fluorescence detection formed in the magazine 10, a claw 24 whose cross-sectional shape is Z- shaped is formed in the tip part of the presser lever 21, the claw 24 is fitted to a lock part 26 at a stopper 25 attached to the guide block 4, the presser lever 21 is pressed to the side of the movable table 1, and the magazine 10 can be fixed to be flat with reference to the movable table 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dose reading device having an improved holding mechanism for a dose reading magazine capable of accommodating a large number of fluorescent glass elements which emit fluorescence when excited by ultraviolet rays.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, small fluorescent glass dosimeters have been widely used for diagnosis / treatment dose evaluation, dose evaluation in animal experiments, and various experiments. A plurality of such compact fluorescent glass dosimeters are housed in a dose reading magazine as shown in FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B), and each fluorescent glass dosimeter is configured to measure its exposure dose. ing.

That is, the dose reading magazine 10 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape made of, for example, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) resin, as shown in FIG. Twenty rows of loading sections 11 for loading the elements X are formed. As shown in FIG. 5 (B), the fluorescent glass element X is attached to the loading portion 11.
Concave grooves 11a for holding both ends of the groove are formed. In addition, notches 12a and 12b, which serve as optical paths, are formed on the extension lines of the respective loading portions 11 in the longitudinal direction so that the ultraviolet laser beam can enter and exit.
Further, the loading section 11 is provided with identification numbers 1 to 20.

By the way, in the dose reading device for reading the exposure dose of the fluorescent glass element X housed in the dose reading magazine 10 as shown in FIG. 5, the dose reading magazine 10 is curved as shown in FIG. Due to such reasons as described above, the height of the ultraviolet laser light incident on each of the fluorescent glass elements X housed in a plurality may become uneven, which may have a great influence on the dose reading value.

Therefore, conventionally, the dose reading magazine 1 has been used.
After heating and correcting 0 to be flat, FIG. 7 (A)
The fluorescence amount of the fluorescent glass element X is read by the dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism as shown in (B). That is, in the conventional magazine holding mechanism, guide blocks 3 and 4 for positioning the dose reading magazine 10 are attached to both ends of the dose reading magazine 10 on the upper surface of the moving table 1 in the longitudinal direction. On the upper surface, one end of the dose reading magazine 10 (in the figure,
A first pressing spring 5 for pressing the left end) to the moving table 1 side is provided, and one end (the right end in the drawing) of the dose reading magazine 10 is provided on the inner side surface of the guide block 4 for the first pressing. The second pressing spring 6 that presses the spring 5 side
Is attached. Then, the dose reading magazine 10 is held by these pressing springs 5 and 6, and
The fluorescence amount of each fluorescent glass element X was read at each dose reading position of 20.

[0006]

However, the conventional dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism as described above has the following problems. (1) In order to obtain sufficient reading accuracy when measured using the conventional dose reading device as described above, the dose reading magazine 10 is preliminarily read so that the warp amount is within 0.05 mm. It was necessary to modify the magazine 10 for heating. In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the “warpage amount” means a difference in height between both ends and a central portion (maximum concave portion) when the concave surface side is placed on a flat surface. Say

(2) Due to the difference in shape before the warp of the dose reading magazine 10 is corrected, heating correction under a certain condition causes
There was a problem that the variation between the 20 positions fluctuates depending on the correction conditions. For this reason, conventionally, the dose reading magazine is divided into areas with a warp amount of 0.1 mm, and the warp is measured under different conditions, such as changing the heating time.
(?) It was corrected, but the variation between the 20 positions still varied between 0.7 and 1.4% in the read reproducibility Cv. (3) When the dose reading magazine 10 changed over time and was warped, the variation between the 20 positions was further increased.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to:
There is little influence of the correction state of the warp of the dose reading magazine,
An object of the present invention is to provide a dose reading device capable of stable dose reading even in the long term.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 provides a dose reading magazine having a plurality of loading sections capable of loading a plurality of fluorescent glass elements, in a predetermined manner. In a dose reading device having a holding means for supporting and fixing the dose reading magazine, the holding means makes the dose reading magazine uniform so that the ultraviolet irradiation positions of the plurality of loading portions are uniform in all the loading portions. It is characterized in that it is configured so as to be held at a predetermined portion with a sufficient pressing force.

According to the invention of claim 1 as described above, since the dose reading magazine having a plurality of loading portions can be held at a predetermined portion of the dose reading device with an even pressing force, the dose reading magazine can be held. Warping of the reading magazine can be prevented, and the height of the ultraviolet laser light incident on the fluorescent glass element can be made constant at any position of the dose reading magazine. As a result, variations among a plurality of positions are reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the dose reading device according to the first aspect, the holding means is a holding lever rotatably attached to a predetermined portion of the dose reading device via a hinge. It is characterized by being.
According to the second aspect of the present invention as described above, the dose reading magazine having a plurality of loading parts is provided with a predetermined configuration of the dose reading device with a uniform pressing force with a simple configuration in which the pressing lever is rotated through the hinge. Can be held at the site. Thereby, the warp of the dose reading magazine can be prevented, and the height of the ultraviolet laser light incident on the fluorescent glass element can be made constant at any position of the dose reading magazine.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the dose reading device according to the second aspect, an elastic member is attached to the pressing lever at a contact surface with the dose reading magazine. To do. According to the thirty-second aspect of the invention as described above, since the elastic member is attached to the pressing side of the pressing lever, the dose reading magazine can be elastically pressure-bonded to a predetermined portion of the dose reading device. As a result, rotate the holding lever via the hinge,
The "play" required for engaging a predetermined locking portion can be easily obtained.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a dose reading apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. The same members as those of the conventional type shown in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

(1) Structure In the dose reading apparatus of this embodiment, a dose reading magazine holding mechanism as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used. That is, guide blocks 3 and 4 for positioning the dose reading magazine 10 are attached to the upper surface of the moving table 1 at both longitudinal ends of the dose reading magazine 10. In addition, on the upper surface of the guide block 3,
A holding lever 21 is rotatably attached by a hinge 22. The holding lever 21 is for holding the dose reading magazine 10 flat with respect to the moving table 1, and has a dose reading magazine 1 at the center thereof.
An opening portion 23 is formed at a position corresponding to the opening window 13 for fluorescence detection provided in No. 0.

Further, a claw 24 having a Z-shaped cross section is formed at the tip of the pressing lever 21, and the claw 24 is fitted with the locking part 26 of the stopper 25 attached to the guide block 4, The pressing lever 21 is pressed against the moving table 1 so that the dose reading magazine 10 can be flatly fixed to the moving table 1.
In this embodiment, a sponge rubber 27, which is an elastic member, is attached to the lower surface of the pressing lever 21 in the longitudinal direction. A pressing spring 6 is attached to the side surface of the guide block 4 as in the conventional case.

(2) Operation / Effect In the dose reading apparatus of the present embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration, the dose reading magazine 10 is held as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the dose reading magazine 10 is attached along the guide blocks 3 and 4 with the pressing lever 21 raised. At this time, the dose reading magazine 10 is pressed against the guide block 3 side by the pressing spring 6.

Next, the tip portion of the pressing lever 21 is attached to the hinge 2.
2 is rotated to the movable table 1 side, and the holding lever 21 is pushed down until the claw 24 provided at the tip of the holding lever 21 engages with the locking portion 26 formed on the stopper 25. At this time, the dose reading magazine 10 has the sponge rubber 2 attached to the lower surface of the pressing lever 21.
Due to the elasticity of 7, it is brought into close contact with the moving table 1.

Then, in response to a reading start signal, the movable table 1 moves to the dose reading position, the glass element housed in the dose reading magazine 10 is excited by the ultraviolet laser light, and the fluorescence generated from the glass element is read. . At this time, since the dose reading magazine 10 is in close contact with the moving table 1, the height of the laser beam incident on the glass element is constant at any position of the dose reading magazine 10 and variation between positions is reduced. It

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pressing lever 21 is tilted, and the pressing lever 2 is pushed until the claw 24 provided at the tip end of the pressing lever 21 engages with the locking portion 26 of the stopper 25.
By pressing 1 toward the moving table 1, the dose reading magazine 10 can be brought into close contact with the moving table 1. As a result, warping of the dose reading magazine 10 can be prevented, and the height of the laser beam incident on the glass element can be made constant at any position of the dose reading magazine 10, so that there is variation between positions. Can be significantly reduced.

(3) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is possible to prevent partial warpage or deformation of a dose reading magazine that houses a plurality of fluorescent glass elements. Any holding means can be used, and it is not always necessary to press the entire surface of the dose reading magazine. For example, pressing means for pressing the magazine toward the moving table with a uniform pressure may be provided at a plurality of positions on the upper surface of the dose reading magazine. in this case,
It goes without saying that the larger the number of pressing means installed, the more the partial warpage and deformation of the dose reading magazine can be prevented.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an elastic member such as sponge rubber is attached to the lower surface of the pressing lever 21 for the purpose of elastically pressing the dose reading magazine onto the moving table 1, but this elastic member is essential. Instead, the pressing lever 21 alone may directly press the dose reading magazine.

[0022]

[Embodiment 1] In Embodiment 1, the effect of the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention was investigated by using a dose reading magazine which was previously subjected to a heat correction process for preventing warpage of the magazine. It is a thing. That is, in Test Examples 1 to 5, the fluorescent glass elements to be measured are housed at the respective positions 1 to 20 for the five dose reading magazines that have been subjected to the heat correction process in advance, and this is used in the present invention. It is measured by a dose reading device using such a magazine holding mechanism. On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 to 5, for the five dose reading magazines that have been subjected to the heating correction process in advance, the fluorescent glass elements to be measured are housed at the respective positions 1 to 20, and the magazines are installed in the conventional magazine. It is measured by a dose reading device using a holding mechanism.

As the fluorescent glass element to be measured, a 1 mGy irradiated article of φ1.5 × 8.5 mm glass was used, and 3 for each of the 5 dose reading magazines.
It was read repeatedly and the average value was calculated. The measurement results are as shown in Table 1 and FIG.

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, in Test Examples 1 to 5 measured by the dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention, the comparison was made by the dose reading device using the conventional magazine holding mechanism. Compared to Examples 1-5,
The read reproducibility Cv was improved in 4 out of 5 magazines, and was improved by 0.15% on average. Also,
As shown in FIG. 3, in Test Examples 1 to 5 indicated by ◯, good results were obtained as compared with Comparative Examples 1 to 5 indicated by ▪.

[Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 2, the effect of the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention is examined by using a dose reading magazine which is not subjected to the heat correction process for preventing the warp of the magazine. is there. That is, in Test Examples 6 to 8,
The heat correction process to prevent the warpage of the magazine is not performed, and the warpage amount is 500 μm and 400 μμ, respectively.
In a dose reading magazine of m and 300 μm, fluorescent glass elements to be measured are housed in the respective positions 1 to 20 and measured by a dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention. is there.

On the other hand, Comparative Examples 6 to 8 were not similarly subjected to the heat correction treatment, and the warpage amounts were 500 μm and 4 respectively.
With respect to the dose reading magazines of 00 μm and 300 μm, the fluorescent glass elements to be measured are housed in the respective positions 1 to 20, and the magazines are measured by a conventional dose reading device using a magazine holding mechanism.

As the fluorescent glass element to be measured, a 1 mGy irradiation product of φ1.5 × 8.5 mm glass was used, and each of the above dose reading magazines was read three times, and the average value was read. I asked. The measurement results are as shown in Table 2 and FIG.

[Table 2]

As is clear from Table 2 and FIG. 4, in Comparative Examples 6 to 8 measured by the dose reading device using the conventional magazine holding mechanism, the read value sharply drops from around 14 positions. It is considered that this is because the 20-position side, which is free without the magazine pressing, is lifted from the moving table 1. On the other hand, in Test Examples 6 to 8 measured by the dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention, there was no difference in the measurement results between the positions, and good results were obtained.

Further, as shown in Comparative Examples 1 to 5 of Example 1, the reading when the dose reading magazine which has been subjected to the heat correction process in advance is measured by the dose reading apparatus using the conventional magazine holding mechanism. The average value of reproducibility Cv is "1.2
1 ", but the average value of the read reproducibility Cv of the test examples 6 to 8 in which the heating correction process shown in the present embodiment is not performed is" 0.
89 ", and good results can be obtained when measured by a dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism of the present invention, even when using a magazine that has not been subjected to a heat correction process in advance. I understood.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is little influence of the correction state of the warp of the dose reading magazine,
It is possible to provide a dose reading device capable of stable dose reading even in the long term.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a magazine holding mechanism used in a dose reading apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a configuration of a magazine holding mechanism used in the dose reading device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a result of a magazine pressing test in Example 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a result of a magazine pressing test in Example 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a dose reading magazine,
(A) is a perspective view, (B) is a main part enlarged perspective view.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a curved state of the dose reading magazine.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a magazine holding mechanism used in a conventional dose reading device, in which (A) is a plan view;
(B) is a side view.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a warp amount.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Moving table 3, 4 ... Guide block 5: first pressing spring 6 ... second pressing spring 10 ... Dose reading magazine 11 ... Loading section 12 ... Notch 13 ... Opening window 21 ... Holding lever 22 ... Hinge 23 ... Aperture 24 ... nails 25 ... Stopper 26 ... Locking part 27 ... Sponge rubber X ... Fluorescent glass element

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 26, 2001 (2001.12.
26)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

(2) Due to the difference in shape before the warp of the dose reading magazine 10 is corrected , heating correction under a certain condition causes
There was a problem that the variation between the 20 positions fluctuates. For this reason, conventionally, the dose reading magazine is divided into 0.1 mm warp amounts and the warp is corrected under different conditions such as changing the heating time.
The variation between 0 positions is 0.7 in terms of reading reproducibility Cv.
Varyed between ~ 1.4%. (3) When the dose reading magazine 10 changed over time and was warped, the variation between the 20 positions was further increased.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the dose reading device according to the second aspect, an elastic member is attached to the pressing lever at a contact surface with the dose reading magazine. To do. The above contract
According to the invention of claim 3 , since the elastic member is attached to the pressing side of the pressing lever, the dose reading magazine can be elastically pressure-bonded to a predetermined portion of the dose reading device. As a result, rotate the holding lever via the hinge,
The "play" required for engaging a predetermined locking portion can be easily obtained.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0025

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 2, the effect of the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention is examined by using a dose reading magazine which is not subjected to the heat correction process for preventing the warp of the magazine. is there. That is, in Test Examples 6 to 8,
The heat correction process to prevent the warpage of the magazine is not performed, and the warpage amount is 500 μm, 400 μm and 3 respectively.
For a dose reading magazine of 00 μm , each 1-2
The fluorescent glass element to be measured is housed in each position of 0 and measured by the dose reading device using the magazine holding mechanism according to the present invention.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0026

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

On the other hand, Comparative Examples 6 to 8 were not similarly subjected to the heat correction treatment, and the warpage amounts were 500 μm and 40, respectively .
With respect to the dose reading magazines of 0 μm and 300 μm, the fluorescent glass elements to be measured are housed in the respective positions 1 to 20 and measured with a dose reading device using a conventional magazine holding mechanism.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A dose reading apparatus comprising holding means for supporting and fixing a dose reading magazine having a plurality of loading parts capable of loading a plurality of fluorescent glass elements, at a predetermined portion, wherein the holding means comprises: The dose reading magazine is configured to be held at a predetermined portion with a uniform pressing force so that the ultraviolet irradiation positions on the plurality of loading units are uniform in all the loading units. Dose reading device. 2. The dose reading device according to claim 1, wherein the holding means is a holding lever rotatably attached to a predetermined portion of the dose reading device via a hinge. 3. The dose reading device according to claim 2, wherein an elastic member is attached to a contact surface of the pressing lever with the dose reading magazine.