UV-Dosimeter System
Tyler Research Corporation has designed and developed a complete system for quantitative ultraviolet dose-response analysis in biological organisms.
The irradiator consists of a shielded primary chamber housing a contoured bank of high-flux UV-fluorescent lights, and three removable sample modules (Figure 1). These modules provide rapid and reproducible positioning of the test subjects (petri dishes, mouse restrainers, etc) in the UV field. Individual shutters are provided for exact dose delivery. The primary chamber is cooled and ventilated with a silent fan, which runs whenever the irradiator is on. Construction is of acrylic/polycarbonate, fully shielding the operator from ultraviolet radiation.
Lamps included with the irradiator are cascade-phosphor ultraviolet generators with a sharp 313nm peak output (65% of total UV radiation falls within 20nm half bandwidth of the peak). Power requirement is 115VAC, 1.5 Amps, 60Hz.
Three mouse restrainers are included with the irradiator (Figure 2). These unique three-sided modules (Patents Pending) are simple to load and provide absolute restraint of the animal in the desired dorsal orientation, permitting quantitative dose delivery. The animal’s sensitive eyes, ears, nose and feet are fully shielded from ultraviolet radiation, and the mice appear to be comfortably contained.
The high precision photonic dosimeter is a completely solid-state microprocessor-controlled detector/analyzer (Patents Pending) providing real-time digital output of temperature and photon flux at specified wavelengths (Figure 3). Units are user-selectable, with a choice of mW/cm2, ergs/mm2/sec, and Joules/m2/sec. Detector heads are small (0.5" x 1.9" x 1.2") and are connected to the hand-held processor via a flexible RS-232 cable. Each detector is permanently calibrated, and for this application is configured to correspond to UV-B radiation. Wavelengths from 180nm to 1000nm and with virtually any bandwidth are detectable by the device. The photonic dosimeter is self-contained, and powered by a standard 9-volt battery.
The complete system consists of the primary chamber with 3 integral fluorescent lights, 3 removable sample modules with individual shutters, 3 mouse restrainers, 1 photonic dosimeter, and 1 UV-B detector head with interchangeable sample module.
