A dastardly X-ray puzzle....

[X-ray]

@ metalman

Yup, I also want them to be able to improvise and adapt their technique to a non-standard condition. Since we aren't allowed to X-ray people (even volunteers) and we don't get cadavers or whole-body phantoms, I have to come up with something from scratch. Otherwise they just observe us with real patients and if they X-ray somebody, they usually have to hand over to us if something non-standard happens.

radiocative stuff: not our bag really. It would fog our films. We do X-rays to locate radiotherapy 'seeds' such as prostatic brachytherapy but that's a very carefully-controlled source. We don't deal with anything that isn't enclosed in a lead carrier or embedded in the patient. Our radiation is strictly electromagnetic.

[metalman]

In geological analysis the object is to:

 measure the natural gamma radiation  
 bombard the formation with neutrons and measure % neutorns bounced back
bombard the formation with neutrons and measure the resulting gamma ray decay time
bombard the formation with neutrons and measure the resulting energy levels of the gamma ray of decay

The density source is lead shield (200 mCi Cesium 137}

The Chemical neutron sources (5.0 Curie, Am241Be) are in paraffin shields

The electrical neutron generators don't require shields (for transport!)
Neutron flux, 1E8 n/sec when on!

[X-ray]

That's dangerous stuff there! The radiotherapy department has some Cobalt 60 units and a linear accelerator, but these are fixed units built into lead 'bunkers'. The mobile stuff is scary. A mate of mine was doing industrial radiography and he had to carry a mobile unit through some pipes at a refinery, to X-ray the welds for defects. He stopped doing that job when he learned that a colleague had found a defective unit had 'lost its source'  :-o

Nah, I'll stick to the more friendly radiation, thank you.

[bloodline]

X-ray wrote:

Nah, I'll stick to the more friendly radiation, thank you.

Have you hugged your friendly radiation today?

[metalman]

X-ray wrote:
That's dangerous stuff there! The radiotherapy department has some Cobalt 60 units and a linear accelerator, but these are fixed units built into lead 'bunkers'. The mobile stuff is scary. A mate of mine was doing industrial radiography and he had to carry a mobile unit through some pipes at a refinery, to X-ray the welds for defects. He stopped doing that job when he learned that a colleague had found a defective unit had 'lost its source'  :-o

Nah, I'll stick to the more friendly radiation, thank you.

welding and pipe inspectors typically use 8 milliCurie Cesium 137 and 40 milliCurie Am241Be source

For geological density logging, the source is a 1.4 to 2 Curie Cesium 137 or Cobalt 60 source

Time, distance, shielding!

[x56h34]

Another idea! Swallow 50 pennies and one 10 cent piece. Who ever finds the 10 cent piece is the winner. :-)

Or better yet, swallow 50 pennies made in something like 1980 and one made in 2000, if you want it to be more difficult. ;-)

[X-ray]

50 pennies  :-o
You and PMC trying to kill me or what?  :inquisitive:

Mind you, we have had our share of X-raying people who have ingested or otherwise 'concealed' items. Each radiographer has a mental list of their Top Five. Here's mine (all genuine):

1) Young man swallowed 27 scalpel blades.
2) Old fellow swallowed a large serving spoon
3) An enterprising guy managed to feed the curly cord between a telephone handset and the telephone base, into his bladder.
4) Young woman 'hid' a light bulb
5) Fellow 'hid' a fluorescent tube

As tempting as the pennies sound, I ain't going into anybody's Top Five  ;-)

[odin]

How the hell does one end up stuffing wires into one's bladder :-o.

Imagine the light bulb shattering :nervous:.