Development of radiation imaging system for nutrient distribution in sapling

Abstract

Radioactive tracer in plant commonly uses X-ray films or imaging plate for study nutrient distribution, which cause radioactive waste. We developed a real-time imaging system for radiotracer in sapling to reduce a large number of samples and radioactive waste. The main components of the developed system consist of the radiation imaging detector, the mechanical part, and the operating software. We used 4 × 4 channel array of Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) model ArrayC-30035-16P from SensL coupling with plastic scintillator array of 3 × 3 × 5 mm3 pixels as a radiation imaging detector. The signals from the detector were amplified and noises discriminated then transfer to the operating software on a personal computer (PC). The area scanning unit and mechanical parts were modified from MicromakeCl 3D printer with customised control board and controlled by operating software on PC interfacing via USB to RS232. Furthermore, the LabVIEW base system control software was developed to control the movement of motors in X, Y and Z directions of the mechanical control board in associated with the counting signals transferring from the developed detector board. Each counted data from the scanning process was transformed into rainbow scale image. The developed system could measure a sample with a maximum size of 300 × 300 mm2, and the precision of motors was ± 0.1 mm. The control software is able to change parameters of the time for counting, a pitch of motors and scanning area of a sample. Finally, the developed system was tested by run through the process of radiotracer in the maize sapling growth for 30 hours. The result showed satisfactory rainbow color scale image of accumulation and distribution of radioactive tracer in sapling.