Hybrid radiation detection system

A hybrid ionizing radiation detection system, the system comprising:

• two or more ionizing radiation detectors, each with dedicated output conditioning circuitry;
• and
• a processing device, wherein the processing device performs the method steps comprising:
• (a) obtaining spectral histograms from two or more calibrated spectroscopic detectors;
• (b) separating the photopeak counts from the underlying continuum counts using baseline estimation for each spectral histogram to create a respective peak spectral array;
• (c) rebinning each peak spectral array to conform to a common energy calibration:
• (d) convolving the rebinned peak spectral arrays to create a convolution array;
• (e) redistributing counts, according to the local convolution array distribution, in each rebinned spectral array over a symmetrical energy region proportional to the respective photopeak shape calibration at the channel energy;
• and
• (f) summing the redistributed counts to obtain the combined spectrum.

A computer readable medium embodying a computer program product, the program product comprising instructions, operable to enable a processing device to execute a procedure for combining the spectral data from a plurality of ionizing radiation detectors to produce a single combined spectrum, the program instructions comprising:

• obtaining the outputs from a plurality of calibrated spectroscopic detectors positioned to detect the radiation level from a radioactive source;
• computing spectral histograms for at least two of the spectroscopic detectors;
• separating the photopeak counts from the underlying continuum counts using baseline estimation for each spectral histogram to create a respective peak spectral array;
• rebinning each peak spectral array to conform to a common energy calibration;
• convolving the rebinned peak spectral arrays to create a convolution array;
• redistributing counts, according to the local convolution array distribution, in each rebinned spectral array over a symmetrical energy region proportional to the respective photopeak shape calibration at the channel energy;
• summing the redistributed counts to obtain the combined spectrum and
• preparing a report related to the combined spectrum for display to a user.