Marciniak Agnieszka, Juniewicz Małgorzata, Ciesielski Bartłomiej, Boguś Piotr, Mazur-Oleszczuk Kamila, Prawdzik-Dampc Anita, Karczewski Jakub
Department of Physics and Biophysics, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Division of Artificial Intelligence, Institute of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Front Public Health. 2025 Sep 9;13:1659601. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1659601. eCollection 2025.
Industrial and medical applications of ionizing radiation, as well as unstable political situation worldwide, which may result in military releases of radioactivity, increase a risk of uncontrolled exposures of people to ionizing radiation. Retrospective dosimetry allowing for fast triage of victims is crucial for rescue actions. Previous studies showed that smartphones' screens are promising for dosimetry based on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). A variety of EPR line-shapes in different screens, regarding background signals (BG) and radiation-induced signals (RIS), various sensitivities to interfering factors like UV light and temperature, impose serious limitations on this method. This study focuses on classification of screen glasses, taking into account their elemental compositions, EPR properties (sensitivity to UV and temperature), in order to formulate practical recommendations for dosimetry.
EPR spectra of 45 screens, unirradiated and irradiated with X-rays, were measured. Elemental composition of the glasses was determined using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. Effects of UV on samples' EPR spectra were checked. Annealing at 200 °C enabled to evaluate effects of heating on BG and RIS. A self-written program based on c-means algorithm was used to find intercorrelations between elemental compositions and EPR features (types) of the glasses.
Our spectra-differentiating algorithm resulted in identification of five types of glasses correlated with their elemental composition, sensitivity to X-rays, to UV and high temperature. Glasses labelled as type III and V were recommended for dosimetry due to their resistance to UV and undergoing temperature-caused bleaching of RIS without affecting their BG signals; a feature which enables reconstruction of the original BG from an irradiated sample - a key step in retrospective dosimetry. The introduced categorization of screen glasses, based on chosen features of their EPR spectra, is a simple and practical method for evaluation of their applicability in retrospective dosimetry following radiation accidents, e.g. for triage of exposed people.
电离辐射在工业和医学领域的应用，以及全球不稳定的政治局势（这可能导致放射性物质的军事释放），增加了人们遭受非受控电离辐射照射的风险。能够对受害者进行快速分类的回顾性剂量测定对于救援行动至关重要。先前的研究表明，智能手机屏幕有望用于基于电子顺磁共振（EPR）的剂量测定。不同屏幕中各种EPR线形，涉及背景信号（BG）和辐射诱导信号（RIS），以及对紫外线和温度等干扰因素的各种敏感性，给该方法带来了严重限制。本研究着重于根据屏幕玻璃的元素组成、EPR特性（对紫外线和温度的敏感性）对其进行分类，以便为剂量测定制定实用建议。
测量了45个未受辐照和经X射线辐照的屏幕的EPR光谱。使用能量色散光谱法测定玻璃的元素组成。检查了紫外线对样品EPR光谱的影响。在200°C下退火能够评估加热对BG和RIS的影响。使用基于c均值算法的自编程序来寻找玻璃的元素组成与EPR特征（类型）之间的相互关系。
我们的光谱区分算法导致识别出五种与它们的元素组成、对X射线、紫外线和高温的敏感性相关的玻璃类型。标记为III型和V型的玻璃因其对紫外线的抗性以及RIS在温度作用下发生漂白而不影响其BG信号而被推荐用于剂量测定；这一特性使得能够从辐照样品中重建原始BG——回顾性剂量测定中的关键步骤。基于EPR光谱选定特征对屏幕玻璃进行的分类，是一种简单实用的方法，可用于评估其在辐射事故后回顾性剂量测定中的适用性，例如用于对受照射人员进行分类。
