Re: X-Ray vision is here

[MCNAUGHT@lanl.gov (Mike McNaughton)]

>The system that everyone has been discussing the past week is
>actually manufactured and in use.  It is produced by Nicolet
>Imaging Systems of San Diego.  

There is an article in the March issue of the CERN Courier, entitled
"Minidose X-rays". CERN Courier is an international journal subscribed to by
most high-energy physicists, and should be available in many university
libraries. The article describes a state-of-the-art X-ray imaging system
developed by the Budker Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia, which has
been evaluated by a team from the University of London, with some
involvement by Nobel-prize-winning physicist Georges Charpak. It is
presently being tested at hospitals in Moscow and Paris.

It describes how a collimated X-ray beam is scanned over the body and
detected with a special multi wire proportional chamber. The advantage of
the system is that, with digital readout and computer processing, much more
information is obtained than with a standard X-ray system. Cost is $100,000
to $250,000. It sounds like a relative of the Nicolet system that has been
discussed on RadSafe.

However, although the partial dose for a single pixel is of order a few
microrem, the whole-body dose from the complete scan is 40 mrem.

"Shlala gashle" (Zulu greeting meaning "stay safe") mike