Solid-liquid reversible scintillator and method of using the same
AssigneePackard Instrument Company, Inc.
InventorHaruo Fujii
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a scintillator which emits light in response to radiation. The scintillator is capable of being reversibly changed between solid and liquid phases, whichever is desired, by temperature control. The scintillator comprises a fluorescent substance for converting radiation energy into light energy; a solvent which transfers radiation energy to the fluorescent substance and dissolves and diffuses the fluorescent substance and a radioactive substance acting as an object of measurement to thereby homogenize them; and a fixing substance which enables the solvent, the fluorescent substance and the radioactive substance to be fixed in a solid state and also liquified upon heating, the fixing substance being capable of phase change reversibility.
Claims71
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, a solvent for said fluorescent substance, and a fixing substance which enables said solvent and said fluorescent substance to be fixed in a solid state and liquified upon heating, said fixing substance being capable of phase change reversibility,
- placing said composition in a container defining a desired configuration while said composition is heated to a liquefying temperature, and then cooling said composition in said container to solidify said composition in said desired configuration,
- attaching the sample to be measured to a filter medium,
- re-heating said solidified composition to a liquefying temperature and applying the resulting liquid to said sample on said filter,
- re-solidifying said liquid composition on the sample and the filter medium, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said solidified composition in a scintillation counter.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, a solvent for said fluorescent substance, and a fixing substance which enables said solvent and said fluorescent substance to be fixed in a solid state and liquified upon heating, said fixing substance being capable of phase change reversibility,
- placing said composition in a container defining a desired configuration while said composition is heated to a liquefying temperature, and then cooling said composition in said container to solidify said composition in said desired configuration,
- re-heating said solidified composition to a liquefying temperature and applying the resulting liquid to said sample,
- re-solidifying said liquid composition on the sample, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said solidified composition in a scintillation counter.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, a solvent for said fluorescent substance, and a fixing substance which enables said solvent and said fluorescent substance to be fixed in a solid state and liquified upon heating, said fixing substance being capable of phase change reversibility,
- coating said composition on a support while said composition is heated to a liquefying temperature, and then cooling said composition on said support to solidify said composition in said desired configuration,
- attaching the sample to the coated side of said support, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said coating of said composition in a scintillation counter while said sample is attached to said coating.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, said composition being fixed in a solid state without altering said composition and liquified upon heating, said composition being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling,
- applying said liquid composition to said sample,
- solidifying said liquid composition on the sample, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said solidified composition in a scintillation counter.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, said composition being fixed in a solid state at room temperature without altering said composition and liquified upon heating, said composition being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling,
- placing said sample in a container defining a desired configuration,
- melting said solidified composition and applying the resulting liquid to said sample in said container,
- allowing said liquid composition to solidify on the sample in said desired configuration, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said solidified composition in a scintillation counter.
The method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light and a solvent for said fluorescent substance, said composition being fixed in a solid state at room temperature without altering said composition and liquified upon heating, said composition being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling,
- coating said composition on a support while said composition is melted, and then allowing said composition to solidify on said support in a desired configuration without altering said composition,
- attaching the sample to said support, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said coating of said composition in a scintillation counter.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising
- preparing a composition comprising a fluorescent substance for converting radiation into light, said composition being fixed in a solid state at room temperature and liquified upon heating, said composition being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling,
- placing said entire composition in a container defining a desired configuration while said entire composition is heated to a liquefying temperature, and then allowing said entire composition in said container to solidify in said desired configuration without altering said composition,
- applying said entire solidified composition onto the sample, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said solidified composition in a scintillation counter.
A solid-liquid reversible scintillator for use in measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said scintillator comprising a fluorescent substance, a solvent which dissolves said fluorescent substance, and a paraffin, said scintillator being in a solid state at room temperature and liquified upon heating, said scintillator being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling without otherwise altering said scintillator.
A solid-liquid reversible scintillator for use in measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said scintillator comprising a fluorescent substance, a solvent which dissolves said fluorescent substance and an amount of a fixing agent which determines a temperature at which said scintillator solidifies, said temperature varying with said amount of said fixing agent, said scintillator being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling without otherwise altering said scintillator.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising:
- preparing a scintillator comprising a fluorescent substance, a solvent which dissolves said fluorescent substance, and an amount of a fixing agent which determines a temperature at which said scintillator solidifies, said temperature varying with said amount of said fixing agent, said scintillator being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling without otherwise altering said scintillator,
- placing said scintillator in a container defining a desired configuration while said scintillator heated to a liquefying temperature, and then cooling said scintillator in said container to solidify said scintillator in said desired configuration without otherwise altering said scintillator,
- applying said scintillator to said sample in a desired state, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said scintillator in a scintillation counter.
A method of measuring the radioactivity level of a radioactive sample in a scintillation counter, said method comprising:
- preparing a scintillator comprising a fluorescent substance, a solvent which dissolves said fluorescent substance, and an amount of paraffin which determines a temperature at which said scintillator solidifies, said temperature varying with said amount of paraffin, said scintillator being capable of phase change reversibility by heating and cooling without otherwise altering said scintillator,
- applying said scintillator to said sample in a desired state, and
- counting the scintillations emitted by said scintillator in a scintillation counter.
A method for performing liquid scintillation counting by a liquid scintillation counter comprising the steps of providing a radioactive sample for measurement, associating a solid scintillator material in a selected configuration, size and physical conditions with the radioactive sample to be measured, melting said scintillator material onto said sample, thereafter, cooling said sample and said scintillator material so that said scintillator material becomes solid again after the step of melting, and measuring the radioactivity of said sample with a liquid scintillation counter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.