Equipment Description
Standard Delivered Items
- DOSE-X Electrometer
- DX00-000 (Device with TNC triaxial connector)
- DX00-100 (Device with BNC triaxial conenctor)
- DOSE-X Instructions for Use
- DOSE-X Power cord set
Optional:
- DOSE-X Carrying case
DOSE-X
Front Panel
DOSE-X Front Panel
Power button (1): Short press the Power button to turn ON/OFF the device.
Note: If the device is unresponsive, long press the Power button (for at least 6 seconds) to perform a hard shutdown. See Troubleshooting in the DOSE-X Reference Guide for more information.
LED ring:
- Red: Device is powered on but not ready
- Green: Device is done booting and ready for use
- After the device is ready, if the LED ring turns Red, this indicates that there is an error.
Touch Screen (2): The DOSE-X features a large LCD touch screen through which the device is controlled.
The DOSE-X comes with a pre-installed screen protector to help reduce screen wear. Replacement screen protectors can be ordered from IBA Dosimetry.
Back Panel
DOSE-X Back Panel
1: Power switch for turning ON/OFF the power supply. After turning off the device with the Power button (front panel), it is recommended to turn off the power supply before disconnecting the power cable.
2: Main power supply input.
3: Ethernet port.
4: Bias Voltage Output (4mm bunch plug) used to optionally provide bias voltage to detectors (see Floated vs. Grounded Input).
5: Triaxial Connector connects an ion chamber or other compatible measurement device to the channel (see Section 5.3 for TNC and BNC accessories).
6: The USB port allows the user to:
- Export Measurements, Libraries, and Configuration data
- Import Libraries and Configuration data
- Install FW upgrades
IMPORTANT NOTICE: USB PORT USAGE
The USB socket is intended to be used with commercially available, self-powered, standard USB 3.0 flash drives without a USB cable (not requiring additional power). USB 2.0 flash drives may not be recognized by the DOSE-X, it is therefore advised to only use a USB 3.0.
The usage of any USB device other than what is described above is regarded as nonintended use. In particular, the use of a USB hub (where USB end devices are not directly connected to the DOSE-X) is not supported.
Detectors
The recommended IBA detectors (ionization chambers and semiconductor detectors) for the DOSE-X system are listed in Section 5.3.
Floated vs. Grounded Input
The DOSE-X has two different methods for connecting ionization chambers to an electrometer: Floated and Grounded input technology. The main difference between the two systems is the way in which the polarization voltage is supplied to the ionization chamber.
Floated: The floated input clamps the outer chamber wall on ground potential, and provides the polarization voltage through the inner (collecting) electrode. Therefore, the electrometer amplifier is on
polarization potential, and needs an isolating amplifier to provide analogue output. The extremely low current, initiated inside the chamber by radiation, forces the use of high sophisticated guarding techniques, in order to make the entire system (chamber, cable, connectors and amplifier) usable in clinical routine.
Floated input technology allows a consistent triaxial conception of electrometer input, cable, and detector. The chamber wall is on ground, and therefore the entire chamber and cable system is properly shielded. No protective sleeve is needed. This consequent shielding system provides extremely low noise operation. The outer shield of the triaxial cable is on ground. Standard triaxial connectors (either bayonet or threaded) can be used.
Floated Input Technology
Grounded: The grounded input clamps the electrometer amplifier on ground potential and provides the polarization voltage to the outer chamber wall.
With grounded input technology, typically all electrical components inside the electrometer are on ground potential. With grounded input, the construction of cables and sensors is more demanding, for the following reasons:
- The chamber wall is on polarization voltage, and an additional isolating sleeve is necessary to protect from electrical hazard and leakage current, especially when used in water.
- As the chamber wall is not grounded, RF noise may enter into the chamber and cause problems under all RF operated particle accelerators.
- If a triaxial cable is used, the connectors become complicated, because at the inside the connector’s
inner and outer shielding must be crossed to get the outer shell of the connector on ground level. The same occurs inside the chamber, if a conductive (metal) chamber body has to be grounded.
Grounded Input Technology
Main screen
From the main screen of the DOSE-X the user can see the current detector, settings, and measurement, as well as take new measurements.
On the Navigation bar (1), the user can:
- Access the system settings, admin login, and detector / machine libraries via the Main Menu icon
- See the Measurement History (
), Notifications (
), and current date and time
- A green figure indicates that the user is logged in as an Admin
The currently selected detector (2) and measurement parameters are displayed. Here certain parameters
can be changed before performing the next measurement. The measurement results (3) are displayed on the right side of the screen.
At the bottom of the screen (4) the user can:
- Check the Background
- Reset to take a new measurement
- Start / Stop a measurement
See Chapter 4 for more information on measurements.
CAUTION: VERIFY DATE AND TIME
Always verify that the date and time displayed on the DOSE-X are correct and correspond with the real date and time at your location. See Section 3.2 for information on setting the date and time.
Entering Information
The DOSE-X has an on-screen keyboard and number pad for easy text and value entry.
To enter information, simply tap on a field and the keyboard / number pad will open. Tap ENTER when you have finished.
DOSE-X keyboard and number pad
Some fields have dropdown options. Simply tap on the field to open the dropdown menu and select the correct value.