• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, October 4, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

New technique offers rapid assessment of radiation exposure

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 9, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows them to assess radiation exposure in about an hour using an insulator material found in most modern electronics. The technique can be used to triage medical cases in the event of a radiological disaster.

“If there is a large radiological event in a populated area, it would be difficult or impossible to treat everyone who could potentially have acute radiation syndrome,” says Robert Hayes, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at NC State and first author of a paper on the work. “You’d need to be able to figure out who was exposed to enough radiation to require treatment.”

The approach relies on testing crystalline insulators found in everything from thumb drives to smartphones. Because the technique is high-throughput, accurate and precise, it can adequately assess an individual’s exposure in about an hour, Hayes says. Prior methods can take weeks.

“Given that health providers have a one- to two-week window to start treating victims of acute radiation syndrome, the technique should be sufficient to identify which patients require the necessary care,” Hayes says. “It could not only identify individual cases of acute radiation syndrome, but also help authorities determine which geographic areas received the most radiation.

“But it’s not just about identifying those that require care,” Hayes says. “For example, our technique might have been useful in a place like Fukushima, for putting people’s minds at ease. It’s like having your own personal radiation detector.”

The technique requires the insulator to be removed from its electronic device and cleaned. The sample is then placed in a thermally stimulated luminescence reader, which collects spectra relating to the number of electrons found in the flaws inherent to the sample’s crystalline structure. That spectral data is then fed into a custom algorithm that calculates the sample’s radiation exposure.

“This technique requires specialized equipment and expertise, so it’s not something most locales would have on hand,” Hayes says. “But labs like mine could run the tests and provide the authorities with good data very quickly. In addition to NC State, I know there’s another lab with relevant expertise and infrastructure at Oklahoma State University, and one in Denmark, though there are likely others.

“Hopefully, this technique won’t be necessary for a long time, if ever. But we think it’s important to develop these tools before they are needed.”

###

The paper, “Retrospective dosimetry at the natural background level with commercial surface mount resistors,” is published in the journal Radiation Measurements. The paper was co-authored by Ryan O’Mara, a Ph.D. student at NC State. The work was done with support from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under grant number NRC-HQ-84-14-G-0059. The work was also done with support from NC State’s Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities, which is sponsored by the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Media Contact
Matt Shipman
[email protected]
919-515-6386

Related Journal Article

https://news.ncsu.edu/2019/01/assessing-radiation-exposure/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2018.12.007

Tags: Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesElectrical Engineering/ElectronicsMedicine/HealthNuclear PhysicsResearch/DevelopmentTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceWeaponry
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Carers in Australia: Blessings and Challenges Explored

October 4, 2025

Herbal Remedies for Hypertension: Insights from Trinidad

October 4, 2025

Impact of Triglyceride-Glucose Index on Neonatal Health

October 4, 2025

Decoding MAG, PTEN, NOTCH1 in Axonal Regeneration

October 4, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    93 shares
    Share 37 Tweet 23
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    90 shares
    Share 36 Tweet 23
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    75 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • New Insights Suggest ALS May Be an Autoimmune Disease

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Carers in Australia: Blessings and Challenges Explored

Gut Microbiome and Hormones in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer

Herbal Remedies for Hypertension: Insights from Trinidad

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm' to start subscribing.

Join 62 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.