An innovative idea for developing a new gamma-ray dosimetry system based on optical colorimetry techniques

Obtaining knowledge of the absorbed dose up-taken by a certain material when it is exposed to a specific ionizing radiation field is a very important task. Even though there are a plenitude of methods for determining the absorbed dose, each one has its own strong points and also drawbacks. In this article, an innovative idea for the development of a new gamma-ray dosimetry system is proposed. The method described in this article is based on optical colorimetry techniques. A color standard is fixed to the back of a BK-7 glass plate and then placed in a point in space where the absorbed dose needs to be determined. Gamma-ray-induced defects (color centers) in the glass plate start occurring, leading to a degree of saturation of the standard color, which is proportional, on a certain interval, to the absorbed dose. After the exposure, a high-quality digital image of the sample is taken, which is then processed (MATLAB), and its equivalent IRGB intensity value is determined. After a prior corroboration between various well-known absorbed dose values and their corresponding IRGB values, a calibration function is obtained. By using this calibration function, an "unknown" up-taken dose value can be determined.