Integrated whole-body radioactivity counting, measuring and analyzing system

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of human body radiation detection, and discloses an integrated whole body radioactivity counting, measuring and analyzing system which comprises a detection head, a high-voltage module, a multi-channel analyzer, a scale preparation module, an analyzer control module, a data acquisition and storage module and a parameter analysis module. Through collaborative design of data-scale integrated storage management and hardware-software closed-loop control, pulse data and scale configuration are subjected to strong association storage, and uniqueness and accuracy of analysis and traceability are ensured; centralized and programmable control over front-end hardware is achieved through the analyzer control module, so that the system can adjust the working state in a self-adaptive mode and conduct real-time quality verification. In the system integration level, the integrated architecture design realizes the whole process from physical signals to quantitative analysis results, the operation steps are simplified, and the detection efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of human body radiation detection technology, and in particular to an integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement analysis system. Background Technology

[0002] In existing technologies, the standard workflow of whole-body counters and similar energy spectrum analysis systems is typically divided into two relatively independent stages: data acquisition and data processing, generally employing a separate architecture of acquisition hardware and dedicated analysis software. First, the hardware system, including the detector head, high-voltage power supply, and multichannel analyzer, detects, converts, and digitizes the radiation signal, outputting raw energy spectrum data. Then, the operator manually exports this data file from the acquisition system and imports it into dedicated energy spectrum analysis software running on another computer. This software performs a series of complex analyses, including energy spectrum display, background subtraction, peak finding, nuclide identification, efficiency correction, activity and uncertainty calculations. The final results are then used for internal radiation dose assessment.

[0003] However, this traditional separate architecture has obvious technical problems: First, the data link is too long and the links are fragmented. Manual data transfer and import / export are not only cumbersome and inefficient, but also introduce the risk of misoperation and data version mismatch. Second, the system status cannot be controlled and verified in a closed loop. The analysis software cannot directly feed back and control the parameters of the front-end acquisition hardware (such as high voltage and gain), and it is difficult to verify the system status during acquisition in real time (such as stability monitoring based on the background spectrum). It is difficult to prevent quality problems from occurring during the data acquisition stage. Third, the system integration and automation level are low. From acquisition to the generation of the final dose assessment report, cross-platform operation and manual intervention are required, which is not conducive to achieving a fast and standardized automated measurement process and also increases the system maintenance cost. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to address the technical problems of data version mismatch, inability to close-loop control and verification, and low system integration and automation caused by the segmented data acquisition and data processing of existing energy spectrum analysis systems, and to provide an integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement analysis system.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] An integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system includes a probe, a high-voltage module, a multichannel analyzer, a calibration preparation module, an analyzer control module, a data acquisition and storage module, and a parameter analysis module.

[0007] The probe is used to convert the radiation signal into an analog voltage pulse signal;

[0008] The high-voltage module is used to provide operating voltage for the probe head;

[0009] The multichannel analyzer is used to digitize analog voltage pulse signals, classify and count them by amplitude, and form pulse data.

[0010] The calibration preparation module is used to generate a configuration calibration set by measuring with a standard source and a nuclide library;

[0011] The analyzer control module provides unified coordination and control for the multichannel analyzer;

[0012] The data acquisition and storage module is used to perform acquisition control and associate and store pulse data with scale configuration data.

[0013] The parameter analysis module is used to perform energy spectrum fitting, nuclide identification, and activity calculation on the associated stored data.

[0014] To address the issues of excessively long and fragmented data links in existing technologies, which pose a risk of data version mismatch, this application addresses this problem by using a data acquisition and storage module to create a strong correlation index between the raw pulse data and the configuration scale set generated by the scale preparation module during the acquisition and control process. This integrated storage establishes an inherent data-scale binding relationship, ensuring that the scale parameters used in subsequent analysis strictly correspond to the system state at the time of acquisition. This eliminates the technical problems of analysis errors caused by manual transfer or selection of incorrect scale files, and the potential for data and processing standard mismatch.

[0015] To address the issues in existing technologies where closed-loop control and verification of system status are impossible, and where analysis software struggles to directly feed back and adjust front-end acquisition hardware parameters, this application uses the analyzer control module as the core control hub to uniformly coordinate and control hardware such as multichannel analyzers and high-voltage modules. This enables the system to dynamically adjust acquisition parameters (such as high-voltage values ​​and acquisition time) based on analysis requirements or real-time status. Furthermore, instrument stability can be verified in real-time through methods such as baseline spectral analysis. This achieves closed-loop management from acquisition control to status feedback, resolving the technical problem of disconnect between front-end hardware status and back-end analysis software, hindering adaptive adjustment and real-time verification.

[0016] To address the issues of low system integration and automation in existing technologies, this application constructs a fully integrated hardware and software architecture consisting of a probe head, a high-voltage module, a multichannel analyzer, a calibration preparation module, an analyzer control module, a data acquisition and storage module, and a parameter analysis module. This architecture deeply integrates data acquisition, real-time processing, nuclide analysis, and activity calculation functions into a single system, achieving an automated and continuous process from signal acquisition to internal radiation dose assessment input results. This significantly reduces manual intervention and cross-platform operation, solving the technical problems of cumbersome operation, fragmented processes, and low automation in traditional systems.

[0017] Compared with existing technologies, the advantages of this invention are as follows: Through the collaborative design of integrated data-scale storage management and hardware-software closed-loop control, at the data consistency level, pulse data and scale configuration are stored in a strong correlation, ensuring the uniqueness and accuracy of analysis and traceability; the analyzer control module realizes centralized and programmable control of the front-end hardware, enabling the system to adaptively adjust its working state and perform real-time quality verification; at the system integration level, the integrated architecture design realizes the entire process from physical signals to quantitative analysis results, simplifying operation steps and improving detection efficiency.

[0018] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the detector head includes a radiation-sensitive element, a photomultiplier tube, and a preamplifier; the multichannel analyzer includes a linear pulse amplifier and an ADC.

[0019] The radiation-sensitive element detects the radiation signal and outputs it to the photomultiplier tube, which converts the radiation signal into a weak analog voltage pulse and outputs it to the preamplifier.

[0020] The preamplifier performs impedance matching on the weak analog voltage pulse, converts the weak analog voltage pulse into an analog voltage pulse, and outputs it to the linear pulse amplifier;

[0021] The linear pulse amplifier amplifies and shapes the analog voltage pulse signal to generate an analog voltage pulse signal suitable for ADC sampling, which is then output to the ADC.

[0022] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the multichannel analyzer converts analog voltage pulse signals suitable for ADC sampling into channel addresses via an ADC, counts the channel addresses in a memory to form pulse data, and outputs it to the analyzer control module.

[0023] The calibration preparation module generates a configuration calibration set based on standard source measurements and nuclide libraries, and outputs it to the analyzer control module.

[0024] The analyzer control module controls the multichannel analyzer to acquire pulse data, and packages the configuration scale set and pulse data to output to the data acquisition and storage module.

[0025] In the aforementioned schemes, existing technologies suffer from technical problems when constructing whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement systems, including incomplete signal chains, disconnect between analog signal processing and digital analysis, and missing data source information. This leads to the raw radioactive signal being susceptible to noise interference and insufficient signal fidelity during transmission and conversion. Furthermore, the lack of direct correlation between front-end analog processing parameters and back-end digital analysis data makes it difficult to achieve end-to-end quality traceability and optimization. This application addresses these issues by introducing a preamplifier and a linear pulse amplifier, and refining the internal processing flow of the multichannel analyzer, thus constructing a complete and accurate conversion chain from physical signals to digital information. The detector head converts the radioactive signal into weak analog voltage pulses. The preamplifier performs impedance matching and primary amplification to reduce signal transmission loss. The linear pulse amplifier further performs main amplification and precision shaping, outputting standard pulses suitable for ADC sampling. The multichannel analyzer then uses the ADC to accurately convert the standard pulses into channel addresses representing energy and counts them in memory to form pulse data. The analyzer control module, acting as the central hub, not only controls the acquisition of the multichannel analyzer but also packages and associates the configuration scale set generated by the scale preparation module with the real-time acquired pulse data, outputting it to the data acquisition and storage module. This invention ensures high-fidelity, low-noise conversion of the original radiation signal by constructing a complete hardware signal chain and software control flow of "analog signal conditioning → digital quantization → data correlation," thus solving the problem of signal quality degradation and information loss caused by an incomplete signal chain. By forcibly binding pulse data and scale configuration at the data source through the analyzer control module, it solves the problem of the original data being disconnected from the calibration parameters used to interpret its physical meaning, making it difficult to guarantee analytical consistency. The end-to-end module design of this application provides high-quality, highly consistent input data for subsequent parameter analysis modules, solving the root cause of analytical errors caused by non-standard front-end signals or data-scale mismatch, laying a solid foundation for accurate and reliable activity calculation of the entire integrated system.

[0026] Furthermore, the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system also includes a real-time display module and a report output module;

[0027] The parameter analysis module obtains the associated stored pulse data and corresponding scale configuration data through the data acquisition and storage module, performs fitting processing and updates the parameter configuration, obtains the analysis results, and outputs them to the real-time display module and the report output module.

[0028] The real-time display module receives pulse data, corresponding scale configuration data, and measurement results, and displays them in real time.

[0029] The report output module receives the measurement results and organizes them into a measurement report for output.

[0030] In the aforementioned solutions, existing technologies typically employ independent data acquisition and data analysis systems, resulting in a significant time delay between the completion of human data acquisition and the acquisition of the final analysis report. Operators cannot observe the analysis process and preliminary results in real time on-site, nor can they immediately obtain and confirm the formal measurement report while the subject is still present. This fragmented model of acquisition-offline analysis-reporting not only increases the overall testing time cost but also affects the continuity of the testing process and user experience. This application introduces a real-time display module and a report output module, deeply integrating them with the parameter analysis module to construct a real-time synchronous processing link for acquisition-analysis-display-reporting. After obtaining the associated pulse data and scale configuration from the data acquisition and storage module, the parameter analysis module immediately performs fitting calculations and activity analysis, and simultaneously pushes the generated analysis results to the real-time display module and the report output module. The real-time display module receives the raw spectral data, scale configuration, and real-time analysis results, dynamically updates the energy spectrum, and synchronously labels the identified nuclides and their activity information. The report output module receives the structured final measurement results, automatically organizes them, and generates a standard format measurement report. This invention establishes a real-time output channel from analysis results to the display and reporting end, firstly achieving visualized monitoring of the analysis process and results, solving the technical problem that operators cannot track the analysis status and confirm data quality on-site in real time; through the integration of the automated report generation module with the real-time analysis process, a formal report can be directly output within minutes after a single measurement (e.g., after the default 5-minute data collection period), solving the technical problems of delayed report output and the inability to achieve on-site detection and reporting under the traditional separate architecture. The real-time and automated result output mechanism of this application compresses a process that might otherwise require offline time-consuming processing to a level comparable to the data collection time, significantly reducing the overall time cost from detection to obtaining usable results, improving the efficiency of the detection process and user experience, and providing key technical support for rapid screening and evaluation.

[0031] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the probe is used to collect background data without placing any target, using the same probe and instrument settings to measure the environmental and instrument-specific background.

[0032] The probe includes four lung probes and a thyroid probe for human body data collection. The four lung probes detect the left upper lung, left lower lung, right upper lung, and right lower lung regions, respectively.

[0033] The probe head acts as a source detector when collecting data from the radioactive source, and the source detector detects the standard material of the radioactive source.

[0034] In the aforementioned schemes, existing whole-body counter systems often employ separate or non-specialized detector configurations under different measurement modes (such as background, human body, and radiation source measurements), leading to inconsistent data foundations and insufficient spatial resolution and coverage for complex human anatomical structures, affecting the accuracy and efficiency of activity assessment. This application, through a collaborative design of background / human body probe reuse and dedicated human body / source detectors, firstly ensures the homology and direct comparability of background data and human body measurement data, resolving the problem of systematic errors introduced by inaccurate background characterization; secondly, through optimized multi-probe layout targeting the anatomical characteristics of human organs, it solves the problems of incomplete measurement and insufficient spatial representativeness of radioactivity distribution in large organs such as the lungs and thyroid; simultaneously, the dedicated source detector configuration solves the problem of mismatch between radiation source calibration geometry and human body measurement geometry, making it difficult to achieve precise efficiency calibration. This application ensures high quality, high consistency, and high specificity of various measurement data from the detection source, laying a physical foundation for accurate analysis of the integrated system.

[0035] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the parameter analysis module includes a fitting analysis module, a parameter configuration module, and a result analysis module;

[0036] The fitting analysis module performs peak fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data through parameter configuration, obtains the fitting result of the region using the corresponding scale configuration data, and outputs it to the parameter configuration module.

[0037] The parameter configuration module configures parameters based on the user-defined region of interest, number of smoothing points, and estimated fitting parameters, outputs the configuration to the fitting analysis module, receives the fitting results, updates the parameter configuration, and outputs the fitting results to the result analysis module.

[0038] The result analysis module summarizes the fitting results and uses different analytical formulas to calculate the nuclide, activity, uncertainty, and detection limit of the human body part, and outputs the measurement results to the real-time display module and the report output module.

[0039] In the aforementioned scheme, existing whole-body radioactivity counting measurement systems typically rely on independent, general-purpose energy spectrum analysis software for energy spectrum data analysis. Operators must delineate the region of interest (ROI), subtract background, set peak sensitivity, and configure complex initial fitting parameters (such as peak width and background model coefficients) in different interface menus before finally performing calculations. For data from multiple probes (such as four lung probes), this process must be repeated for each channel or a script must be written to summarize the results. The process is cumbersome, time-consuming, and highly susceptible to inconsistent and unreliable analysis results due to human error (such as improper parameter settings or incorrect file selection). Furthermore, it cannot achieve rapid and standardized batch data analysis. This application integrates the aforementioned discrete and manual analysis process into an automated closed-loop processing chain by constructing a deeply collaborative fitting analysis module, parameter configuration module, and result analysis module. The parameter configuration module is used to preset all analysis parameters (including ROI, smoothing points, and key initial fitting estimates) at once and automatically sends these parameters to the fitting analysis module. Based on these preset parameters, the fitting analysis module automatically performs peak finding and precise fitting on the input uniformly formatted pulse data, and feeds back the fitting results, including information such as nuclide type, energy, and peak area, to the parameter configuration module. The parameter configuration module can then self-learn and update the initial parameter library accordingly and send the final fitting results to the result analysis module. The result analysis module automatically performs the aggregation of multi-channel data (such as merging the fitting results of four lung channels) and the unified calculation of nuclide activity and uncertainty, solving the technical problems of low efficiency and poor reproducibility caused by the cumbersome operation and over-reliance on personal experience in traditional methods. The results analysis module automatically summarizes and integrates multi-channel data, solving the technical problems of error-prone manual step-by-step processing and difficulty in ensuring the consistency of data integration from multiple sites. This provides core algorithm support for the rapid, accurate, and standardized assessment of whole-body radioactivity.

[0040] Furthermore, the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement analysis system is characterized in that the fitting analysis module performs peak-finding fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data. Specifically, for the energy spectrum data of each channel, single-peak fitting or double-peak fitting is used in the high-energy region and the low-energy region, respectively, to extract nuclide information in different energy ranges.

[0041] To address the issues of low fitting accuracy and insufficient analysis efficiency caused by the wide energy range and complex interference factors in different energy segments of traditional whole-body counters during rapid screening, this application employs a fitting analysis module to accurately fit the high-energy and low-energy regions of each channel using either a single-peak or double-peak model. This solves the accuracy loss problem caused by treating high and low energy regions with different signal characteristics in the same way: the low-energy region focuses on addressing high background and overlapping characteristic peaks (such as Am-241), while the high-energy region addresses the challenges of low count rates and large statistical fluctuations. By adapting the optimal fitting strategy to different regions, the accuracy and reliability of extracting weak characteristic peak signals from complex backgrounds are significantly improved while maintaining speed, providing more accurate input for subsequent activity calculations.

[0042] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the fitting results are summarized by combining the data from the four lung channels into a lung total spectrum and performing unified result analysis. The thyroid channel data is only used to detect the activity, detection limit, and uncertainty of I131 nuclide.

[0043] To address the low efficiency and poor statistical accuracy of overall lung activity assessment caused by the indiscriminate processing of data from all channels when using existing whole-body counters for simultaneous multi-probe measurements, this application solves the problem through a partitioned aggregation strategy. This application aggregates data from four lung channels into a unified lung profile for analysis, significantly improving counting statistics and achieving rapid and accurate overall lung activity assessment. Simultaneously, the thyroid channel data is separated and dedicated to I-131 radionuclide analysis, avoiding interference from other radionuclides or background noise, ensuring the sensitivity and accuracy of this key radionuclide detection, and resolving the issues of low utilization efficiency of multi-probe data and insufficient organ-specific analysis.

[0044] Furthermore, in the integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, the result analysis module includes a nuclide identification module, a nuclide activity calculation module, a nuclide uncertainty calculation module, and a detection limit calculation module.

[0045] The radionuclide determination module is used to determine radionuclides other than I131 based on the lung total spectrum and to determine I131 based on thyroid channel data. The determination principle is as follows:

[0046] like If the result is positive, it indicates the presence of the nuclide; calculate the activity and uncertainty.

[0047] like If the nuclide is not present, then the detection limit is calculated.

[0048] in, The background count of this nuclide, Count the number of this nuclide in the detection area;

[0049] The nuclide activity calculation module calculates the activity of the nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is present.

[0050] The nuclide uncertainty calculation module calculates the uncertainty of the nuclide based on the nuclide activity calculated by the nuclide activity calculation module.

[0051] The detection limit calculation module calculates the detection limit of a nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is not present.

[0052] In the above scheme, after the existing whole-body counter system completes the energy spectrum acquisition and preliminary identification of nuclides, the subsequent key quantitative analysis steps—nucleus activity calculation and uncertainty assessment—usually need to be performed manually by the operator or with the help of external independent tools. This operation mode, which is highly dependent on human intervention and fragmented, not only leads to low overall analysis efficiency, but also easily introduces human errors in multiple transcriptions and calculations, making it difficult to guarantee the consistency and reliability of the final report data, and failing to meet the requirements of rapid and standardized output of complete quantitative reports. This application designs a highly integrated results analysis module, deeply integrating the nuclide identification module, nuclide activity calculation module, and nuclide uncertainty calculation module at the algorithm level. This constructs an automated data processing pipeline, ensuring that once the nuclide identification module makes a determination based on statistical criteria, all its key fitting parameters (such as net peak area, background, and efficiency value) are automatically and synchronously fed to the subsequent activity calculation module and uncertainty calculation module as a unified, non-manual data source. The activity calculation module instantly calculates the activity, and its result immediately serves as input to the uncertainty calculation module, automatically triggering and completing the assessment of the combined uncertainty. Through this integrated judgment-calculation-assessment pipeline design, this invention achieves fully automated, uninterrupted processing from qualitative judgment to quantitative reporting. It integrates previously scattered, manual multi-step operations into a coherent software algorithm flow, fundamentally solving the technical problems of low efficiency, error-proneness, and inconsistent data caused by manual intervention. This ensures the efficient output of the final analysis results and the rigorous consistency of its internal logic.

[0053] An integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, characterized in that the nuclide activity calculation module includes Am241 nuclide activity calculation, U235 nuclide activity calculation, and other nuclide and I131 nuclide activity calculation;

[0054] The formula for calculating the activity of the Am241 nuclide is as follows:

[0055] ;

[0056] in, The activity of Am241 nuclide is given by BR, which is the nuclide attenuation branch ratio. This information was obtained from the nuclide library. This is the error value;

[0057] The formula for calculating the activity of the U235 nuclide is as follows:

[0058] ;

[0059] in, For the activity of U235 nuclide, The local count rate of U235 nuclide is given, and t is the collection live time. U235 nuclide count in the region of interest;

[0060] The formulas for calculating the activities of other nuclides and I131 nuclide are as follows:

[0061] ;

[0062] in, For the activity of other nuclides, The activity of the I131 nuclide. Attached Figure Description

[0063] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention and should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0064] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of an integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system.

[0065] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the module interaction of a whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement analysis system.

[0066] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the nuclide library section.

[0067] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram for peak fitting. Detailed Implementation

[0068] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings can generally be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0069] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. Furthermore, in the description of this invention, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used only for distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, or suggesting any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Additionally, the terms "connected," "linked," etc., can refer to a direct connection between elements or an indirect connection via other elements.

[0070] This invention is achieved through the following technical solutions, such as... Figure 1 As shown, an integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system includes a probe head, a high-voltage module, a multichannel analyzer, a calibration preparation module, an analyzer control module, a data acquisition and storage module, a parameter analysis module, and a report output module.

[0071] The probe is used to convert the radiation signal into an analog voltage pulse signal;

[0072] The high-voltage module is used to provide operating voltage for the probe head;

[0073] The multichannel analyzer is used to digitize analog voltage pulse signals, classify and count them by amplitude, and form pulse data.

[0074] The calibration preparation module is used to generate a configuration calibration set by measuring with a standard source and a nuclide library;

[0075] The analyzer control module provides unified coordination and control for the multichannel analyzer;

[0076] The data acquisition and storage module is used to perform acquisition control and associate and store pulse data with scale configuration data.

[0077] The parameter analysis module is used to perform energy spectrum fitting, nuclide identification, and activity calculation on the associated stored data.

[0078] like Figure 2As shown, specifically, an integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and measurement analysis system also includes a real-time display module and a report output module. The detector head includes a radiation-sensitive element, a photomultiplier tube, and a preamplifier. The multichannel analyzer includes a linear pulse amplifier and an ADC.

[0079] The specific interaction between the modules is as follows: the radiation-sensitive element detects the radiation signal and outputs it to the photomultiplier tube, which converts the radiation signal into a weak analog voltage pulse and outputs it to the preamplifier; the preamplifier performs impedance matching on the weak analog voltage pulse, converts it into an analog voltage pulse, and outputs it to the linear pulse amplifier; the linear pulse amplifier amplifies and shapes the analog voltage pulse signal to generate an analog voltage pulse signal suitable for ADC sampling and outputs it to the ADC.

[0080] In this embodiment, the probe is a sodium iodide detector, which includes a sodium iodide crystal, a photomultiplier tube, and a preamplifier. When a radiating particle (such as a gamma ray or a neutron) enters the crystal, the sodium iodide crystal absorbs the radiant energy and emits photons. These photons are reflected multiple times inside the crystal and then converted into weak analog voltage pulses by the photomultiplier tube and output to the preamplifier.

[0081] Specifically, the background sampling is performed using the same probe and instrument settings without placing any target object, measuring the inherent background of the environment and the instrument. In human body data acquisition, the probe includes four lung probes and a thyroid probe. The four lung probes respectively detect the upper left lung, lower left lung, upper right lung, and lower right lung regions. When collecting data from a radioactive source, the probe acts as a source detector (e.g., a high-purity germanium detector or a NaI detector), which detects the radioactive source standard material.

[0082] The multichannel analyzer controls the high-voltage module to supply power to the probe.

[0083] In this embodiment, the multichannel analyzer is set to a voltage step of 50V, and the high-voltage control section is shown in Table 1:

[0084] Table 1: Control of high voltage gauge by multichannel analyzer;

[0085] ;

[0086] The voltage is adjusted in 50V increments, and the enable signal indicates the on / off status of each channel. Each channel has a corresponding high voltage setting.

[0087] The multichannel analyzer converts analog voltage pulse signals suitable for ADC sampling into channel addresses through an ADC, counts the channel addresses in a memory to form pulse data, and outputs it to the analyzer control module.

[0088] The calibration preparation module generates a configuration calibration set based on standard source measurements and nuclide libraries, and outputs it to the analyzer control module.

[0089] The configuration scale set includes energy-channel address scale coefficients, peak width scale, and efficiency scale, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the nuclide library includes several nuclides and their corresponding names, energies, branching ratios, half-lives, and time units.

[0090] The analyzer control module controls the multichannel analyzer to acquire pulse data, and packages the configuration scale set and pulse data to output to the data acquisition and storage module.

[0091] In this embodiment, the analyzer control module includes timed saving and acquisition time, with the timed saving set to 60 seconds and the acquisition time set to 5 minutes.

[0092] The data acquisition and storage module stores the pulse data and the configuration scale set after establishing a strong correlation index, and simultaneously outputs the associated stored pulse data and the corresponding scale configuration data to the parameter analysis module.

[0093] Specifically, the data collected and stored by the data acquisition and storage module includes background data, human body data, and radiation source data.

[0094] The background data is collected before human body and radiation source data collection. The collected background data undergoes quality control via the main interface, and the analysis results are output to the real-time display module. This quality control includes environmental stability control and data calibration control. The environmental stability control analyzes the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak in the background spectrum of the collected background data.

[0095] If the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak is close to the historical average, it indicates that the current detection environment is stable (no accidental contamination) and the instrument is working normally (no significant drift in gain or energy scale).

[0096] If the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak is significantly higher than the historical average, it suggests that there may be accidental contamination in the detection environment.

[0097] If the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak is significantly lower than the historical average or the peak position is shifted, it may indicate an instrument malfunction or state drift (such as high voltage instability or amplifier failure). This should be avoided when performing invalid human or source measurements under abnormal instrument conditions.

[0098] In the embodiment, if the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak deviates from the historical average by less than ±5%, and the peak position drift is less than ±2 channels, it indicates that the current detection environment is stable; if the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak exceeds 30% of the historical average, it suggests that there may be accidental contamination in the detection environment; if the net count rate of the K-40 characteristic peak is lower than -30% of the historical average, or the peak position drift is greater than ±5 channels, it suggests that there may be instrument malfunction or status drift.

[0099] Existing whole-body counter systems lack an automated, standardized, and physically-data-based system status self-check and verification process before initiating critical human or radiation source measurements. This leads to the inability to detect two types of potential risks in real time and quantitatively: first, the background radioactivity of the measurement environment may have unexpectedly changed (e.g., the presence of unknown contamination sources in the vicinity); second, the instrument's own electronic state may have undergone subtle drift (e.g., slow changes in high voltage or amplifier gain). This uncertainty means that subsequent time-consuming human or source measurements may be performed under unreliable system conditions, resulting in low-quality energy spectrum data, distorted activity calculations, and ultimately, invalid measurements and wasted time and resources. This application addresses this by designing a mandatory, procedural, and quantitatively-critically-defined quality control process, deeply integrating it into the main operating interface and measurement workflow. Before any human or source measurement, background data acquisition must be performed, and the quality control module will be automatically invoked for analysis. The core of quality control is environmental stability control, which is achieved by analyzing the naturally occurring K-40 characteristic peak (1460 keV) in the background spectrum. This invention establishes an objective and automatic system health diagnosis mechanism by setting precise numerical criteria for the K-40 characteristic peak of the background spectrum. This solves the problem that traditional methods rely on human experience, cannot quantify and assess the system status in real time, and risk data invalidation due to blindly measuring when the system status is unknown or abnormal.

[0100] The data calibration control generates background parameters that will automatically call upon previously set background parameters to participate in the calculation when analyzing human body data or radiation source data (whether in the channel aggregation, peak finding, or activity calculation stage).

[0101] The parameter analysis module obtains the associated stored pulse data and corresponding scale configuration data through the data acquisition and storage module, performs fitting processing and updates the parameter configuration, obtains the analysis results, and outputs them to the real-time display module and the report output module.

[0102] Specifically, the parameter analysis module includes a fitting analysis module, a parameter configuration module, and a result analysis module.

[0103] like Figure 4As shown, the fitting analysis module performs peak fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data through parameter configuration, and obtains the fitting results (nuclide and energy values, peak count, channel address, peak width) of the region using the corresponding scale configuration data, and outputs them to the parameter configuration module.

[0104] The peak-finding fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data specifically involves fitting the energy spectrum data of each channel using either single-peak fitting or double-peak fitting in the high-energy and low-energy regions, respectively, to accurately extract nuclide information from different energy ranges.

[0105] The single-peak fitting is a mathematical model obtained by superimposing a single Gaussian function with the background, and the formula is as follows:

[0106] ;

[0107] in, It is a single Gaussian function, where amp is the peak value, cen is the peak index, and x is the channel address variable. This represents the standard deviation (peak width) of the Gaussian peak. It is a single Gaussian function without any constants;

[0108] The bimodal fitting is a mathematical model obtained by superimposing two single Gaussian functions on the background, and the formula is as follows:

[0109] ;

[0110] in, It is a bimodal fit. , The standard deviations of the two Gaussian peaks are respectively. The initial values ​​can share the same interface configuration σ estimate or be configured separately. After fitting, they are updated to the actual values. A, B, and C are the background polynomial coefficients. The initial values ​​are the interface parameter configuration estimates. After fitting, they are updated to the actual values.

[0111] It is important to note that single-peak fitting is a special case of bimodal fitting (when one of the Gaussian peaks has a zero amplitude), and the parameters... A, B, and C are used as initial estimated values. The Gaussian peak parameters (amp, cen, ...) are simultaneously optimized using nonlinear least squares and other optimization algorithms. The system calculates the baseline parameters (A, B, C) and outputs the updated actual values.

[0112] The parameter configuration module configures parameters based on user-defined regions of interest, smoothing points, and estimated fitting parameters, outputs the configuration to the fitting analysis module, receives the fitting results, updates the parameter configuration, and outputs the fitting results to the result analysis module.

[0113] The result analysis module summarizes the fitting results and uses different analytical formulas to calculate the nuclide, activity, uncertainty, and detection limit of the human body for different nuclides. The results are then output to the real-time display module and the report output module. The summarization of the fitting results involves combining the data from the four lung channels into a lung total spectrum for unified result analysis. The thyroid channel data is only used to detect the activity, detection limit, and uncertainty of I131 nuclide.

[0114] The result analysis module includes a nuclide identification module, a nuclide activity calculation module, a nuclide uncertainty calculation module, and a detection limit calculation module.

[0115] The radionuclide determination module is used to determine radionuclides other than I131 based on the lung total spectrum and to determine I131 based on thyroid channel data. The determination principle is as follows:

[0116] like If the result is positive, it indicates the presence of the nuclide; calculate the activity and uncertainty.

[0117] like If the nuclide is not present, then the detection limit is calculated.

[0118] in, The background count of this nuclide, The nuclide count is performed in the detection area.

[0119] It should be noted that the detection area is manually selected by the operator as the energy spectrum region for calculation.

[0120] The nuclide determination module includes determination of Am241 nuclide, determination of I131 nuclide, and determination of other nuclides;

[0121] The calculation formula for determining the Am241 nuclide is as follows:

[0122] ;

[0123] in, For background Am241 nuclide counting, To detect the Am241 nuclide count in the detection area, The background measurement coefficient, The actual count values ​​for background Am241 nuclides were collected. Count the Am241 nuclides in the region of interest;

[0124] The calculation formula for determining the I131 nuclide is as follows:

[0125] ;

[0126] in, For background I131 nuclide counting, To detect the I131 nuclide count in the detection area, For the counting of I131 nuclides in the region of interest, This is the peak count for the fit; when the channel data is fitted alone and no information about the nuclide is detected, this count is 0.

[0127] The calculation formula for determining other nuclides is as follows:

[0128] ;

[0129] in, For background counts of other nuclides, To detect the counting of other nuclides in the detection area, Count other nuclides in the region of interest.

[0130] The nuclide activity calculation module calculates the activity of a nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is present. The nuclide activity calculation module includes the activity calculation of Am241 nuclide (background or human body), the activity calculation of U235 nuclide (background or human body), and the activity calculation of other nuclides and I131 nuclide (all of which are radioactive sources).

[0131] The formula for calculating the activity of the Am241 nuclide is as follows:

[0132] ;

[0133] in, The activity of Am241 nuclide is given by BR, which is the nuclide attenuation branch ratio. This information was obtained from the nuclide library. This is the error value;

[0134] The formula for calculating the activity of the U235 nuclide is as follows:

[0135] ;

[0136] in, For the activity of U235 nuclide, The local count rate of U235 nuclide is given, and t is the collection live time. U235 nuclide count in the region of interest;

[0137] The formulas for calculating the activities of other nuclides and I131 nuclide are as follows:

[0138] ;

[0139] in, For the activity of other nuclides, The activity of the I131 nuclide.

[0140] The nuclide uncertainty calculation module calculates the uncertainty of the nuclide based on the nuclide activity of the nuclide activity calculation module; the nuclide uncertainty calculation module includes uncertainty calculation of Am241 nuclide (background or human body), uncertainty calculation of U235 nuclide (background or human body), uncertainty calculation of other nuclides and I131 nuclide (all of which are radioactive sources).

[0141] The formula for calculating the uncertainty of the Am241 nuclide is as follows:

[0142] ;

[0143] in, For the uncertainty of nuclide Am241, For the counting of Am241 nuclides, Here is the uncertainty coefficient;

[0144] The formula for calculating the uncertainty of the U235 nuclide is as follows:

[0145] ;

[0146] in, For the uncertainty of the U235 nuclide;

[0147] The formulas for calculating the uncertainties of the other nuclides and I131 nuclide are as follows:

[0148] ;

[0149] in, For uncertainties of other nuclides, The uncertainty is for nuclide I131.

[0150] The detection limit calculation module calculates the detection limit of a nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is not present. The detection limit calculation module includes the calculation of the detection limit of other nuclides and the calculation of the detection limit of I131 nuclide.

[0151] The calculation formula for the detection limits of the other nuclides is as follows:

[0152] ;

[0153] in, For other nuclides, the detection limit is set.

[0154] The formula for calculating the detection limit of the I131 nuclide is as follows:

[0155] ;

[0156] in, The detection limit for the I131 nuclide.

[0157] The report output module receives the measurement results and organizes them into a measurement report. The measurement report includes the information of the person being tested, basic information, and measurement results. The measurement results include the nuclide name, energy, activity, uncertainty, and body part.

[0158] The measurements were taken at two sites: the thyroid gland and the lungs. The thyroid gland was identified using the I131 radionuclide, while the lungs were measured for the identification of the other radionuclides.

[0159] In this embodiment, the measurement results are shown in Table 2:

[0160] ;

[0161] It should be noted that the energy is converted from channel address to energy by configuring a scale set, and the energy is calculated from the fitted peak point index cen.

[0162] The real-time display module receives pulse data and corresponding scale configuration data and measurement results, and displays them in real time. The real-time display module includes an acquisition stage and a measurement stage. The acquisition stage displays the energy spectrum data of each channel in real time, including energy spectrum information and two-dimensional energy spectrum diagram. The analysis stage displays the peak center address, energy, FWHM, FWTM, identified nuclides, peak full area, peak net area, and total / net count rate under the peak in real time.

[0163] In some embodiments, the probe can detect not only the lungs and thyroid gland, but also other parts of the human body (such as the abdomen).

[0164] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system, characterized in that, It includes a probe, a high-voltage module, a multichannel analyzer, a calibration preparation module, an analyzer control module, a data acquisition and storage module, and a parameter analysis module; The probe is used to convert the radiation signal into an analog voltage pulse signal; The high-voltage module is used to provide operating voltage for the probe head; The multichannel analyzer is used to digitize analog voltage pulse signals, classify and count them by amplitude, and form pulse data. The calibration preparation module is used to generate a configuration calibration set by measuring with a standard source and a nuclide library; The analyzer control module provides unified coordination and control for the multichannel analyzer; The data acquisition and storage module is used to perform acquisition control and associate and store pulse data with scale configuration data. The parameter analysis module is used to perform energy spectrum fitting, nuclide identification, and activity calculation on the associated stored data.

2. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The probe includes a radiation-sensitive element, a photomultiplier tube, and a preamplifier; the multichannel analyzer includes a linear pulse amplifier and an ADC. The radiation-sensitive element detects the radiation signal and outputs it to the photomultiplier tube, which converts the radiation signal into a weak analog voltage pulse and outputs it to the preamplifier. The preamplifier performs impedance matching on the weak analog voltage pulse, converts the weak analog voltage pulse into an analog voltage pulse, and outputs it to the linear pulse amplifier; The linear pulse amplifier amplifies and shapes the analog voltage pulse signal to generate an analog voltage pulse signal suitable for ADC sampling, which is then output to the ADC.

3. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The multichannel analyzer converts analog voltage pulse signals suitable for ADC sampling into channel addresses through an ADC, counts the channel addresses in a memory to form pulse data, and outputs it to the analyzer control module. The calibration preparation module generates a configuration calibration set based on standard source measurements and nuclide libraries, and outputs it to the analyzer control module. The analyzer control module controls the multichannel analyzer to acquire pulse data, and packages the configuration scale set and pulse data to output to the data acquisition and storage module.

4. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a real-time display module and a report output module; The parameter analysis module obtains the associated stored pulse data and corresponding scale configuration data through the data acquisition and storage module, performs fitting processing and updates the parameter configuration, obtains the analysis results, and outputs them to the real-time display module and the report output module. The real-time display module receives pulse data, corresponding scale configuration data, and measurement results, and displays them in real time. The report output module receives the measurement results and organizes them into a measurement report for output.

5. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The background sampling is performed by using the same probe and instrument settings without placing any target to be measured, to measure the inherent background of the environment and the instrument. The probe includes four lung probes and a thyroid probe for human body data collection. The four lung probes detect the left upper lung, left lower lung, right upper lung, and right lower lung regions, respectively. The probe head acts as a source detector when collecting data from the radioactive source, and the source detector detects the standard material of the radioactive source.

6. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The parameter analysis module includes a fitting analysis module, a parameter configuration module, and a result analysis module; The fitting analysis module performs peak fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data through parameter configuration, obtains the fitting result of the region using the corresponding scale configuration data, and outputs it to the parameter configuration module. The parameter configuration module configures parameters based on the user-defined region of interest, number of smoothing points, and estimated fitting parameters, outputs the configuration to the fitting analysis module, receives the fitting results, updates the parameter configuration, and outputs the fitting results to the result analysis module. The result analysis module summarizes the fitting results and uses different analytical formulas to calculate the nuclide, activity, uncertainty, and detection limit of the human body part, and outputs the measurement results to the real-time display module and the report output module.

7. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The fitting analysis module performs peak-finding fitting from the region of interest defined by the pulse data. Specifically, it performs single-peak fitting or double-peak fitting on the energy spectrum data of each channel in the high-energy region and the low-energy region, respectively, to extract nuclide information in different energy ranges.

8. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The fitting results are summarized by combining the data from the four lung channels into a lung total spectrum and performing unified result analysis. The thyroid channel data is only used to detect the activity, detection limit, and uncertainty of I131 radionuclide.

9. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The result analysis module includes a nuclide identification module, a nuclide activity calculation module, a nuclide uncertainty calculation module, and a detection limit calculation module. The radionuclide determination module is used to determine radionuclides other than I131 based on the lung total spectrum and to determine I131 based on thyroid channel data. The determination principle is as follows: like If the result is positive, it indicates the presence of the nuclide; calculate the activity and uncertainty. like If the nuclide is not present, then the detection limit is calculated. in, The background count of this nuclide, Count the number of this nuclide in the detection area; The nuclide activity calculation module calculates the activity of the nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is present. The nuclide uncertainty calculation module calculates the uncertainty of the nuclide based on the nuclide activity calculated by the nuclide activity calculation module. The detection limit calculation module calculates the detection limit of a nuclide when the nuclide determination module determines that the nuclide is not present.

10. The integrated whole-body radioactivity counting and analysis system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The nuclide activity calculation module includes the calculation of Am241 nuclide activity, U235 nuclide activity, and the calculation of other nuclides and I131 nuclide activity; The formula for calculating the activity of the Am241 nuclide is as follows: ； in, The activity of Am241 nuclide is given by BR, which is the nuclide attenuation branch ratio. This information was obtained from the nuclide library. This is the error value; The formula for calculating the activity of the U235 nuclide is as follows: ； in, For the activity of U235 nuclide, The local count rate of U235 nuclide is given, and t is the collection live time. U235 nuclide count in the region of interest; The formulas for calculating the activities of the other nuclides and the I131 nuclide are as follows: ； in, For the activity of other nuclides, The activity of I131 nuclide.

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