Patent Application
20250093538
The present invention relates to an electronic dosimeter that is worn by a radiation worker and wirelessly transmits radiation dose data to an external receiving device.
Under current laws, radiation workers have to measure radiation exposure doses during radiation operations, and are obligated to wear small dosimeters for personal use (personal dosimeters). Dosimeters that are used as personal dosimeters are electronic dosimeters which mainly include a silicon semiconductor as a radiation detection unit and which are operated by a battery or the like.
In recent years, this type of electronic dosimeter that is capable of data communication with an external receiving device has been proposed, which enables a wearer to grasp the exposure dose of the wearer via another device.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application (Translation of PCT Application), Publication No. 2021-534420
Radiation dose data that is measured by an electronic dosimeter capable of data communication with an external device must be managed as a personal exposure dose for a certain period of time regardless of whether a wearer directly reads the radiation dose data from a dose display of the electronic dosimeter or reads the radiation dose data via data communication with a receiving device based on a data transmission operation of the wearer.
With the former method, the wearer records the radiation dose data after reading the radiation dose data from the dose display, which is cumbersome. With the latter method, for example, in a case in which the wearer fails to operate the electronic dosimeter to transmit data, data communication with the receiving device is not performed, and the exposure dose cannot be evaluated. Accordingly, acquisition of the most recent radiation dose data is left to the management of each wearer, which is not suitable from a viewpoint of radiation exposure dose management.
Further, the electronic dosimeter mainly uses a battery as a power source, and when the electronic dosimeter continuously performs radiation measurement or data transmission, even while the electronic dosimeter is not worn, power is consumed and it is necessary to replace the battery after a short period of time. Although, a power switch is provided on the electronic dosimeter, making the wearer turn the power source on and off leaves a possibility of the wearer forgetting to turn the power source on or forgetting to turn the power source off.
The present invention aims to provide an electronic dosimeter that transmits radiation dose data to an external receiving device without requiring active consideration by a user. Further, the present invention aims to provide an electronic dosimeter that suppresses power consumption in a case in which the user is not wearing the electronic dosimeter.
The present inventors found that radiation dose data is transmitted to the outside of an electronic dosimeter by a Bluetooth (registered trademark) advertising signal, and arrived at the completion of the present invention.
(1) An electronic dosimeter, characterized by comprising a communication unit that is mounted on the electronic dosimeter and that continuously and in one way transmits, by an advertising signal via Bluetooth, radiation dose data measured by a radiation detection unit mounted on the electronic dosimeter.
The electronic dosimeter of (1) can transmit radiation dose data to external receiving device without requiring active consideration by a user.
(2) The electronic dosimeter according to (1), characterized by further comprising a control unit that detects that the electronic dosimeter is not being worn on a body by a gyro sensor, the acceleration sensor and/or a gyro sensor mounted on the electronic dosimeter, and, in a case in which the electronic dosimeter is judged to not have been worn for a predetermined period, stop transmission of the advertising signal or stops supply of power to the radiation detection unit.
The electronic dosimeter of (2) can suppress power consumption when the user does not wear the electronic dosimeter.
According to the present invention, it is possible for the wearer to communicate the radiation dose data without requiring active consideration by a user due to the radiation dose data being continuously or regularly transmitted by the advertising signal, and easily acquire and manage the radiation dose. Further, due to the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor mounted on the electronic dosimeter, it is possible to detect whether or not the electronic dosimeter is worn, and while the electronic dosimeter is not worn, stop the transmission of radiation dose data or stop the supply of power to the radiation detection unit, and thereby suppress power consumption.
The following describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
The acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110 measures acceleration and/or angular velocity. The control unit 120 detects, based on the acceleration and/or the angular velocity measured by the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110, that the user is not wearing the electronic dosimeter 10, and controls a power supply to the radiation detection unit 140 and an operation of the communication unit 160. The battery 130 is a power source for each part of the electronic dosimeter 10.
The radiation detection unit 140 mainly includes a silicon semiconductor and detects radiation. The recording unit 150 records radiation dose data detected by the radiation detection unit 140. The communication unit 160 transmits the radiation dose data recorded in the recording unit 150 to the outside by a Bluetooth advertising signal continuously or regularly.
The communication unit 160 transmits the radiation dose data recorded in the recording unit 150 to the outside by the Bluetooth advertising signal continuously or regularly, and thus it is unnecessary for the user to read the radiation dose data from a dosimeter display unit and it is further unnecessary to perform an operation for data transmission every time.
In step S200, the control unit 120 detects, based on an output of the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110, that the user is not wearing the electronic dosimeter 10. An output level of the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110 when the user is not wearing the electronic dosimeter 10 and the electronic dosimeter 10 has been placed on a desk is much lower than the output level of the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110 when the user wears the electronic dosimeter 10 and is motionless. Accordingly, the control unit 120 can detect that the user is not wearing the electronic dosimeter 10 based on the output level of the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor 110. In a case in which the user continues to not wear the electronic dosimeter 10 for a predetermined period or longer, the operation of the electronic dosimeter 10 proceeds to step S300. Otherwise, the operation of the electronic dosimeter 10 proceeds to step S100.
In step S300, the control unit 120 stops the transmission of the radiation dose data by the communication unit 160. Further, the control unit 120 stops a supply of power from the battery 130 to the radiation detection unit 140. In addition, the control unit may stop only one of the transmission of the radiation dose data by the communication unit 160 or the supply of power from the battery 130 to the radiation detection unit 140.
The transmission of radiation dose data by the electronic dosimeter 10 is not performed based on a request from the receiving device 20. Further, the receiving device 20 does not report to the electronic dosimeter 10 that the radiation dose data has been received. That is, transmission from the receiving device 20 to the electronic dosimeter 10 is not performed, and thus the transmission is one way. Accordingly, the transmission of radiation dose data by the electronic dosimeter 10 is “one way”.
Further, the transmission of the radiation dose data is continuously or regularly performed, which does not mean that the transmission of the radiation dose data is no longer performed after the transmission of the radiation dose data ends at some point in time. Accordingly, the transmission of radiation dose data by the electronic dosimeter 10 is “continuous”.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible for the wearer to communicate the radiation dose data without requiring active consideration by a user due to the radiation dose data being continuously or regularly transmitted by the advertising signal, and easily acquire and manage the radiation dose. Further, according to the present invention, due to the acceleration sensor and/or the gyro sensor mounted on the electronic dosimeter, it is possible to detect whether or not the electronic dosimeter is worn, and while the electronic dosimeter is not worn, stop the transmission of radiation dose data or stop the supply of power to the radiation detection unit, and thereby suppress power consumption.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-020208 | Feb 2022 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2023/004962 | 2/14/2023 | WO |
