Hybrid model for muon tomography and quantitative analysis of image quality

Muon tomography is a novel method for the non-destructive imaging of materials based on muon rays,which are highly penetrating in natural background radiation.Currently,the most commonly used imaging methods include muon radiography and muon tomography.A previously studied method known as coinciding muon trajectory density tomography,which utilizes muonic secondary particles,is proposed to image low and medium atomic number(Z)materials.However,scattering tomography is mostly used to image high-Z materials,and coinciding muon trajectory density tomography exhibits a hollow phenomenon in the imaging results owing to the self-absorption effect.To address the shortcomings of the individual imaging methods,hybrid model tomography combining scattering tomography and coinciding muon trajectory density tomography is proposed and verified.In addition,the peak signal-to-noise ratio was introduced to quantitatively analyze the image quality.Different imaging models were simulated using the Geant4 toolkit to confirm the advantages of this innovative method.The simulation results showed that hybrid model tomography can image centimeter-scale materials with low,medium,and high Z simultaneously.For high-Z materials with similar atomic numbers,this method can clearly distinguish those with apparent differences in density.According to the peak signal-to-noise ratio of the analysis,the reconstructed image quality of the new method was significantly higher than that of the individual imaging methods.This study provides a reliable approach to the compatibility of scattering tomography and coinciding muon trajectory density tomography.

A high-position-resolution trajectory detector system for cosmic ray muon tomography:Monte Carlo simulation

Purpose The research focuses on the related designing and simulating the high-position-resolution trajectory detector system based on cosmic ray muon tomography.Methods The energy deposition of muon in the detector varies with the length of the ionization path.Results The simulation of the submillimeter detector system was designed for muon imaging.The optimal position resolution of the detector reached 0.6 mm.Conclusions The entire research process includes the selection of analysis of parameters affecting system design,designing of two high-position-resolution detectors based on plastic scintillators,implementation of different imaging algorithms and image quality assessment based on different imaging models.It provides a solution based on high positional resolution plastic scintillator detectors for cosmic ray muon scattering imaging.

A position resolution MRPC for muon tomography

Muon tomography is a promising method in the detection and imaging of high Z material. In general, considering the quality of track reconstruction in imaging, a detector of good position resolution, high efficiency and large area is required. This paper presents the design and study of a prototype of position sensitive MRPC with 0.15 mm narrow gas gap and 2.54 mm strip readout. Through a cosmic-ray experiment, the performance of MRPC module is carefully observed and each channel is calibrated. Through an X ray experiment with a narrow slit, the position resolution is studied. The results show that the time resolution of the module can reach 61ps and the spatial resolution can reach 0.36 mm.

Fast forward modeling of muon transmission tomography based on model voxelization ray energy loss projection

To solve the problems associated with low resolution and high computational effort infinite time,this paper proposes a fast forward modeling method for muon energy loss transmission tomography based on a model voxelization energy loss projection algorithm.First,the energy loss equation for muon transmission tomography is derived from the Bethe–Bloch formula,and the imaging region is then dissected into several units using the model voxelization method.Thereafter,the three-dimensional(3-D)imaging model is discretized into parallel and equally spaced two-dimensional(2-D)slices using the model layering method to realize a dimensional reduction of the 3-D volume data and accelerate the forward calculation speed.Subsequently,the muon energy loss transmission tomography equation is discretized using the ray energy loss projection method to establish a set of energy loss equations for the muon penetration voxel model.Finally,the muon energy loss values at the outgoing point are obtained by solving the projection coefficient matrix of the ray length-weighted model,achieving a significant reduction in the number of muons and improving the computational efficiency.A comparison of our results with the simulation results based on the Monte Carlo method verifies the accuracy and effectiveness of the algorithm proposed in this paper.The metallic mineral identification tests show that the proposed algorithm can quickly identify high-density metallic minerals.The muon energy loss response can accurately identify the boundary of the anomalies and their spatial distribution characteristics.

Simulation and experimental comparison of the performance of four-corner-readout plastic scintillator muon-detector system

Cosmic-ray muons are highly penetrating background-radiation particles found in natural environments.In this study,we develop and test a plastic scintillator muon detector based on machine-learning algorithms.The detector underwent muon position-resolution tests at the Institute of Modern Physics in Lanzhou using a multiwire drift chamber(MWDC)experimental platform.In the simulation,the same structural and performance parameters were maintained to ensure the reliability of the simulation results.The Gaussian process regression(GPR)algorithm was used as the position-reconstruction algorithm owing to its optimal performance.The results of the Time Difference of Arrival algorithm were incorporated as one of the features of the GPR model to reconstruct the muon hit positions.The accuracy of the position reconstruction was evaluated by comparing the experimental results with Geant4 simulation results.In the simulation,large-area plastic scintillator detectors achieved a position resolution better than 20 mm.In the experimental-platform tests,the position resolutions of the test detectors were 27.9 mm.We also analyzed factors affecting the position resolution,including the critical angle of the total internal reflection of the photomultiplier tubes and distribution of muons in the MWDC.Simulations were performed to image both large objects and objects with different atomic numbers.The results showed that the system could image high-and low-Z materials in the constructed model and distinguish objects with significant density differences.This study demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed system,thereby providing a new detector system for muon-imaging applications.

Material discrimination using cosmic ray muon scattering tomography with an artificial neural network

Introduction Muon scattering tomography(MST)can be employed to scan cargo containers and vehicles for special nuclear materials by using cosmic muons.However,the flux of cosmic ray muons is relatively low for direct detection.Thus,the detection has to be done in a short timescale with small numbers of muons to satisfy the demands of practical applications.Method In this paper,we propose an artificial neural network(ANN)algorithm for material discrimination using MST.The muon scattering angles were simulated using Geant4 to formulate the training set,and the muon scatter angles were measured by Micromegas detection system to create the test set.Results The ANN-based algorithm presented here ensures a discrimination accuracy of 98.0%between aluminum,copper and tungsten in a 5 min measurement of 4×4×4 cm^(3)blocks.

Study of muon tomographic imaging for high-Z material detection with a Micromegas-based tracking system

Purpose To study the cosmic ray muon tomographic imaging of high-Z material with Micromegas-based tracking system.Method A high-spatial-resolution tracking system was set up with the micro-mesh gaseous structure(Micromegas)detec-tors in order to study the muon tomographic imaging technique.Six layers of 90 mm×90 mm one-dimensional readout Micromegas were used to construct a tracking system.Result and conclusion The imaging test using some metallic bars was performed with cosmic ray muons.A two-dimensional imaging of the test object was presented with a newly proposed ratio algorithm.The result of this work shows that the ratio algorithm is well performed.