THE USE OF ASSOCIATED PARTICLE TIMING BASED ON THE D-BODY(D REACTION FOR ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BULK SAMPLES SUCH AS THE HUMAN)

The use of associated particle timing based on the D + D reaction has been demonstrated for elemental analysis of bulk samples such as the h uman body. The neutron energy of 2.8 MeV eliminates the background fro m organic matrices. The nanosecond timing of a HPGe detector renders i t possible to identify the spatial origin of the measured gamma radiat ion limiting the sensitive area to a single pixel. By this technique t he background could be reduced by a factor of greater than or equal to 1000, but the present set-up has achieved an effective factor only in the range 20-100, due to losses in the generation of timing signals. The very clean gamma-spectra obtained permit the use of high efficienc y scintillation detectors. Sensitivities for measuring Al, Ti, and Fe are presented at an extrapolated dose of 10 mSv. Copyright (C) 1997 El sevier Science Ltd