NSS Refresher Courses

Box Lunches available for purchase outside classroom
 
Title: Neutron Detection              
Instructor:Nolan Hertel, Georgia Tech
Time:Tuesday, 12:15-1:15 pm
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:In recent years neutron detection has been the object of renewed interest largely due to detection needs for homeland security and various other nuclear security/safeguards applications. In many applications, He-3 gas detectors were used as thermal neutron detectors and surrounded with moderating material to detect higher energy neutrons. There is now a shortage of He-3 for neutron detection applications. As a result, research efforts have been encouraged to find a replacement detection material for He-3. This refresher course will review the basic physics mechanisms by which various energy neutrons are detected. Specifically the reactions and cross sections for detecting slow, fast and high-energy neutrons will be reviewed. The principal detector types that have been traditionally used for neutron detection will also be reviewed, namely gas-filled, scintillators and semiconductor-based detectors. The detector requirements for neutron spectroscopy will be presented along with a short discussion of the deconvolution of pulse-height spectra usually required to obtain a spectrum. Sources and applications of neutron detectors will be presented and the challenges that must be addressed to provide neutron detection capabilities now of interest. The final portion of the presentation will survey some recently developed neutron detectors.

 

Title: Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy
Instructor:Doug Van Cleef, ORTEC
Time:Wednesday, 12:15-1:15 pm
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:This course offers a fast-paced review of the basic principles of gamma spectroscopic analysis. The course includes a brief review of the nature and origins of gamma-emitting radioactivity, basic physics of gamma interaction with matter, consequences of gamma interactions on gamma spectra, and the relative merits of different detector materials. Upon completion of this course, students will have a basic understanding of gamma emissions from radioactive decay, the principles of gamma radiation detection, and an introduction to some common gamma-ray detector materials.

 

Title: GEANT Physics Modeling Capabilities
Instructor:Maria Grazia Pia, CERN
Time:Thursday, 12:15-1:15 pm
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:This Refresher Course is focused on Geant4 physics modeling capabilities and their use in Monte Carlo simulation applications. The selection of physics processes and models to be used in a simulation is one of the most critical tasks of Geant4 experimental applications. Geant4 users are invested of the responsibility of configuring the physics of their simulation, since Geant4 does not provide any default physics settings. The configuration of a user application requires in-depth knowledge of Geant4 physics functionality to identify appropriate processes and models, and understanding of their validity to estimate the reliability and accuracy of the simulation results. This Geant4 simulation domain is by far the most difficult to master, not only for novice users, but also for more experienced ones, due to its intrinsic complexity and the large number of available options in the toolkit. This Refresher Course reviews Geant4 simulation capabilities and physics modeling options; it summarizes the current status of Geant4 physics validation and provides guidance to deal with Geant4 physics selection in experimental applications.

 

MIC Refresher Courses

Title: Clinical Impact of Recent Advances In Magnetic Resonance Imaging Hardware
Instructor:Gregory Sorensen, Massachusetts General Hospital
Time:Thursday, November 4, 7:30-8:15 am
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:In recent years the field of MRI has witnessed a number of remarkable hardware innovations. This refresher course will review some of the existing and emerging technologies with specific examples of their impact in clinical medicine. Topics to be reviewed include the shift to parallel RF receiver technologies, with up to 128 channels; the impact of the shift from 1.5 Tesla to 3.0 Tesla to 7.0 Tesla and beyond; parallel RF transmit technologies; very high performance magnetic field gradient devices including the "Connectom", combined simultaneous MR-PET; and other advances.

 

Title: New Trends in Scintillators
Instructor:Chuck Melcher, the University of Tennessee
Time:Friday, November 5, 7:30-8:15 am
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:The development of new scintillators has accelerated in recent years, due in large part to their importance in medical imaging as well as in security and high energy physics applications. Significant advances in the understanding of scintillation mechanisms and the roles of defects and impurities have led to the development of new high performance scintillators for both gamma-ray and neutron detection. Although single crystals still dominate gamma-ray imaging, composite materials and transparent optical ceramics sometimes offer specific advantages in terms of both synthesis and scintillation performance. Numerous promising scintillator candidates have been identified during the last few years, and several are currently being actively developed for commercial production. Purification of raw materials and economical crystal growth processes often represent significant challenges in the development of practical new scintillation materials.

 

Title: Recent Advances in X-Ray Computed Tomography
Instructor:Marc Kachelrieß, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
Time:Saturday, November 6, 7:30-8:15 am
Location:Lecture Hall
Abstract:Computed tomography (CT) is one of the most important imaging modalities in modern medicine, and it is the radiologist’s work horse. After the advent of spiral CT in the early nineteen nineties multi-slice CT scanners were introduced in 1998. Today 64, 128, 256, or even 320-slice clinical CT scanners allow to cover complete anatomical regions in single or dual energy mode within less than a second with isotropic spatial resolution of below 0.5 mm and temporal resolution of below 0.1 s. This refresher course provides a brief overview of clinical CT technology. It then presents dedicated techniques to improve on image quality and dose usage. Among those are novel metal and beam hardening artifact correction techniques, methods to improve on quantitative dual energy CT imaging and new approaches to incorporate a priori knowledge that allow to reconstruct with limited data or with reduced dose.