Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 652 (2011) 650653

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in

Physics Research A
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nima

Performance evaluation of a gamma-ray imaging system for nondestructive

testing of welded pipes
H.S. Cho a,n, J.E. Oh a, S.I. Choi a, H.M. Cho a, Y.O. Park a, D.K. Hong a, M.S. Lee a, Y.J. Yang a, U.K. Je a,
D.S. Kim a, T.H. Woo b, B.S. Lee c, H.K. Lee d
a

Department of Radiological Science, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju 220-710, Republic of Korea
Department of Advanced Technology, Korea Research & Simulation, Corp., Seoul 136-780, Republic of Korea
c
School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju 380-701, Republic of Korea
d
Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65401, USA
b

a r t i c l e in f o

a b s t r a c t

Available online 1 September 2010

As a continuation of our radiographic testing (RT) R&D, we have developed a gamma-ray imaging
system to be suitable for nondestructive testing of welded pipes. The system consists of an imaging
detector having a CdTe/CMOS-based pixel array (AJAT, SCAN1000), a collimated 75Se gamma source
having about 78.7 Ci activities, a gear track mounted around test pipes for image scan, and a computercontrolled microstep motor for precise control of the scan speed. All the components of the imaging
system were assembled tightly by a chain belt. From the imaging system, we obtained useful gamma
images of a stainless steel pipe (30 cm in internal diameter and 1 cm in thickness) having a weld line.
Using standard techniques for evaluation of the radiography quality, we assessed the imaging
characteristics of the detector in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power
spectrum (NPS), and the detective quantum efciency (DQE).
Crown Copyright & 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Gamma-ray imaging system
Nondestructive testing
Welded pipes
Image quality

1. Introduction
Radiographic testing (RT) of welded components and structures is essential in a wide range of industries to ensure that the
weld quality meets the design and operation requirement for
safety and reliability. This method is well established and
performed conventionally with a large amount of radiographic
lms. However, the RT method is typically time-consuming and
expensive and, moreover, requires experienced workers to
evaluate the weld quality based upon radiographic images
[13]. In our previous work [4], in order to overcome the
limitation of the traditional RT method, we developed a digital
gamma-imaging system based upon a commercially available
CdTe/CMOS pixel array detector (AJAT, SCAN1000 [5]) and a 75Se
gamma source. Here the detector has a 750-mm-thick CdTe
photoconductor, as an efcient radiation converter, and a CMOS
photodiode array having 100 mm  100 mm pixel size and
5.4 mm  151.0 mm active area, bump-bonded to the photoconductor for signal readout. From the imaging system, we acquired
several useful gamma images with the 75Se source having about
62.8 Ci activities, by scanning the system in a linear fashion.

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 82 33 761 9660; fax: + 82 33 761 9664.

E-mail address: hscho1@yonsei.ac.kr (H.S. Cho).

In the present study, we have modied the structure of the

imaging system to be suitable for the inspection of welded
structures of pipes, by adopting a gear track mounted around test
pipes for image scan in a circular fashion. From the imaging
system, we obtained useful gamma images of a stainless steel
pipe with a new 75Se source having about 78.7 Ci activities. By
using standard techniques for evaluation of the radiography
quality [68], we assessed the imaging characteristics of the
detector in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF), the
noise power spectrum (NPS), the detective quantum efciency
(DQE). In this paper, we present a detailed description of the
gamma imaging system and the experimental results we
obtained.

2. Material and methods

2.1. Gamma-ray imaging system
The imaging system consists of the same detector used in the
previous work, a new 75Se gamma source (MDS, GammaMat SE
[9]) having about 78.7 Ci activities, a gear track mounted around
test pipes for image scan, and a computer-controlled microstep
motor for precise control of the scan speed. All the components of
the imaging system were assembled tightly by a chain belt. The
detector operates in time delay integration (TDI) mode in which a

0168-9002/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright & 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nima.2010.08.045

H.S. Cho et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 652 (2011) 650653

frame-transfer detector produces a continuous video image of a

moving object by means of a stack of linear arrays aligned with
and synchronized to the motion of the object to be imaged in such
a way that, as the image moves from one line to the next, the
integrated charge moves along with it. It allows a longer
integration time with less motion blur than is possible with a
line-scan detector without TDI capability.
In industrial radiographic applications in the eld, the use of a
high-energy X-ray generator is typically limited due to its difcult
eld access. Instead, gamma sources, such as 60Co, 192Ir, and 75Se,
are portable and, thus, very often used for eld radiography. In
this study, we used a 75Se source which has relatively lower
energies compared to 60Co and 192Ir; it emits gamma-rays in the
energy range 97401 keV and the principal emissions are 136.0
and 264.6 keV gamma-rays.

651

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Modulation transfer function (MTF)
The MTF is a measure of signal transfer over a range of spatial
frequencies of an object and always scaled to unity at a zero

2.2. Experimental setup

Fig. 1 shows a schematic illustration of the experimental setup
for gamma image acquisition and performance tests of the
system. The imaging system was mounted around a stainless
steel pipe tightly by a chain belt. The test pipe has a dimension
of 30 cm in internal diameter and 1 cm in thickness and has
a weld line on its surface. A mechanical support was used to
make enough room between the pipe and the base for image scan.
Other supports were also used to maintain a xed source-todetector distance (SDD) of 50 cm. Fig. 2 shows photographs
of (a) the test pipe and (b) the assembled imaging system
after being mounted around the pipe. The beam size of the
source was restricted by a 22-mm-thick lead collimator having
an opening of 1 or 3 mm in diameter to shield out radiation
except for that in the direction necessary to make exposure.
At the end of the exposure the source was cranked back into a
shielding device. Fig. 3 shows an example of acquired gamma
images of the test pipe, clearly detecting the weld line of the
test pipe.

Fig. 2. Photographs of (a) the test pipe having a weld line on its surface and (b) the
assembled imaging system after being mounted around the pipe tightly by a chain
belt.

Fig. 3. An example of acquired gamma images of the test pipe.

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the experimental setup used for gamma image acquisition and performance tests of the system (not to scale).

H.S. Cho et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 652 (2011) 650653

frequency. It is dened as the modulus of the Fourier Transform

(FT) of the line spread function (LSF) which is the system response
to a delta (d) signal. Measurement procedures are similar to those
used in the previous work with a 10-mm-wide slit (Nuclear
Associate Corp., 7-624, Carle, NY). Fig. 4 shows the measured LSF
curves for the beam sizes of 1 and 3 mm, which are spread out
and have full-width at half-maximums (FWHMs) of about 0.52
and 0.81 mm, respectively. Fig. 5 shows the resultant MTF curves
which were deduced from the measured LSF curves after applying
a Gaussian t. The pixel aperture (or ideal) MTF based upon the
sinc ( ) function of the pixel pitch is also indicated for comparison.
The spatial frequencies estimated at a 10% MTF value were about
1.82 and 0.88 lp/mm, respectively. The MTF characteristics of the
detector were improved as the beam size of the source decreased
but much worse, compared to the pixel aperture MTF. Since the
detector is a direct-type digital radiographic (DR) imager, optical
blurring which is inherent in indirect-type DR imagers could be
excluded as possible causes of the degraded MTF performance. In
order to understand the worse MTF characteristics with the
gamma source, we measured the MTF curve with an X-ray source

1.0

0.8
Relative grayscale

1-mm-wide beam size

3-mm-wide beam size

10-4

10-5

10-6
0

Spatial frequency (lp/mm)

Fig. 6. 1D NNPS curves measured for the beam sizes of 1 and 3 mm.

(Hamamatsu, L7901-01) at 80 kVp by using the same measurement procedure. The resultant MTF curve with the X-ray source,
as also indicated in Fig. 5, was about 3.13 lp/mm. Thus, the worse
MTF characteristics of the system could be caused from the use of
gamma source, and possibly due to the penetration of higherenergy gamma-rays from the source through the material (e.g.,
1.5-mm-thick tungsten) of the slit and the K-shell uorescence of
the collimator (22-mm-thick lead) holding the source and/or the
underside of the slit tungsten. This will increase the apparent size
of the source, also broadening the measurement.

1-mm-wide beam size

3-mm-wide beam size

0.6

0.4

0.2

3.2. Noise power spectrum (NPS)

0.0
-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.5

0.0

1.0

1.5

Position (mm)
Fig. 4. LSF curves measured by using a 10-mm-wide slit for the beam sizes of 1 and
3 mm, which are spread out and have FWHMs of about 0.52 and 0.81 mm,
respectively.

1.0

0.8
Modulation transfer function

10-3
Normalized noise power spectrum (mm2)

652

The NPS, as an intermediate concept that ties together the

noise and spatial resolution properties in an image, measures the
change in the noise amplitude as a function of spatial frequency.
The NPS characteristics were evaluated by using a two-dimensional (2D) Fourier analysis for white images under consideration.
For the easier evaluation of DQE, we actually measured a
normalized NPS (NNPS) and deduced a one-dimensional (1D)
NNPS from the 2D NNPS by using a radial-averaging technique.
Fig. 6 shows the resultant 1D NNPS curves that gradually
decreased as spatial frequency increased. The NNPS value at zero
frequency for the 1-mm-wide beam was about 2.5  10 5 mm2,
about 1.9 times smaller than that for the 3-mm-wide beam,
possibly due to the same reason described in Section 3.1.

3.3. Detective quantum efciency (DQE)

0.6
1-mm-wide beam size
3-mm-wide beam size
Pixel aperture
X-ray source

0.4

0.2

0.0
0

Spatial frequency (lp/mm)

Fig. 5. MTF curves deduced from the measured LSF curves for the beam sizes of 1
and 3 mm.

The DQE describes the transfer of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)

from the input to the output of a detector and thus measures the
fraction of incident photon uence contributing to the image
formation (i.e., the efciency of the equivalent quasi-ideal
detector). The DQE curves were assessed from the measured
MTF, NNPS, and photon uence. Fig. 7 shows the resultant DQE
curves for the beam sizes of 1 and 3 mm. The DQE values at zero
frequency, determined by extrapolating the curves to zero
frequency, were about 0.23 and 0.15, respectively. The worse
DQE characteristics with the gamma source are mainly due to
more degraded MTF characteristics and lower intrinsic efciency
of the CdTe photoconductor (i.e., mean efciency around 24% for
the source).

H.S. Cho et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 652 (2011) 650653

we assessed the imaging characteristics of the system. With the

75
Se source of a 1-mm-wide beam, the spatial frequency
measured at a 10% MTF value was about 1.82 lp/mm, the NNPS
value at zero frequency was about 2.5  10 5 mm2, the DQE value
at zero frequency was about 0.23. Although these results seems
worse than what is expected with an X-ray source, possibly due to
the higher penetration of the gamma rays and the K-shell
uorescence from the lead collimator, the system is still
promising for our ongoing application of nondestructive testing.

0.5
1-mm-wide beam size
3-mm-wide beam size

Detective quantum efficiency

653

0.4

0.3

0.2

Acknowledgement

0.1

0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

This study was supported by the Basic Atomic Energy Research

Institute (BAERI) program of the Ministry of Science & Technology
(MOST) under Contract no. 2010-0018617.

Spatial frequency (lp/mm)

Fig. 7. DQE curves deduced from the measured MTF, NNPS, and photon uence for
the beam sizes of 1 and 3 mm.

4. Conclusion
We have developed an automated gamma-imaging system
based upon the CdTe/CMOS detector suitable for nondestructive
testing of welded pipes. From the imaging system, we obtained
useful gamma images of a stainless steel pipe having a dimension
of 30 cm in internal diameter and 1 cm in thickness by using a
collimated 75Se source of about 78.7 Ci activities. By using
standard techniques for the evaluation of radiography quality,

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]

A. Gayer, A. Saya, A. Shiloh, NDT&E Int. 23 (3) (1990) 131136.

R.R. Silva, L.P. Caloba, M. Siqueira, J. Rebello, NDT&E Int. 37 (6) (2004) 461470.
K. Aoki, Y. Suga, ISIJ Int. 39 (10) (1999) 1081.
H.S. Cho, S.Y. Lee, S.I. Choi, J.E. Oh, H.M. Cho, K.Y. Kim, B.S. Lee, S. Kim, IEEE
Trans. Nucl. Sci. NS55 (2008) 27162720.
Scan 1000, Oy AJAT Ltd., Espoo, Finland [Online]. Available: /http://www.
ajat.S.
E. Samei, M.J. Flynn, Med. Phys. 30 (2003) 608622.
E. Samei, Med. Phys. 30 (2003) 17471757.
H. Fujita, D.Y. Tsai, T. Itoh, K. Doi, J. Morishite, K. Ueda, A. Ohtsuka, IEEE Trans.
Nucl. Sci. NS11 (1992) 3439.
GammaMat S.E., M.D.S. Nordion, Canada Users Manual of the Gamma Mat SE
(SI1405L), Ottawa, ON, October 2006 [Online].