"New Sensor Could
Save $Millions" 
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Two new inventions developed by Oklahoma State University scientists may revolutionize the way ultraviolet (UV) radiation is measured and save researchers millions of dollars. One device, called an ultraviolet-B (UVB) dosimeter, could help researchers worldwide in their efforts to learn more about the effects of increased exposure to UV radiation. It is expected that the inventions will eventually be mass produced and distributed internationally. Dr. Steve McKeever, OSU Regents professor of physics and department head, and Dr. Les Colyott, who was an OSU physics doctoral student when the project began, developed the new UV measuring device to help a colleague, Dr. Jack Bantle, solve a problem in his research. Bantle, an OSU Regents professor of zoology, conducts research that looks at DNA damage in amphibians, primarily frogs. High numbers of frogs found in certain areas of the country are being born with deformities. Bantle and his team of researchers are trying to learn what is causing the birth defects. Part of Bantle’s research involves looking at the amount of UV radiation to which frogs are exposed. Some studies have indicated that changes in UV radiation may be responsible, at least in part, for amphibian birth defects. Measuring UV radiation has been a problem for researchers because of the high cost of equipment. Even if a scientist wanted to submerge an extremely expensive piece of equipment in a muddy pond, one would have to have many of these instruments to get readings at a number of different spots in the area. McKeever and Colyott solved the problem by developing a small, inexpensive, water-tight, light-tight (allowing only UVB to enter) dosimeter that can be placed under water next to the amphibians’ eggs. “This dosimeter costs tens of dollars in comparison to others that cost tens of thousands of dollars,” McKeever said. “The detector element is made of sapphire, which is first sensitized by irradiating it with gamma radiation and heating it to a proscribed temperature in the laboratory.” According to McKeever, “The sapphire is then placed inside the dosimeter and exposed to UV. Upon its return to the lab, the sapphire is removed and illuminated with visible light, causing the sapphire to luminesce. The intensity of the luminescence is proportional to the amount of UV exposure.” The physicists also have invented a new portable and relatively inexpensive device for reading the dosimeters. The reader, resembling an oversize flashlight, is attached to a battery-operated laptop computer, which can be easily taken into the field for research. Word about the new dosimeter and reader is getting out, and other universities also are interested in trying the system. McKeever and Colyott took their inventions to an international convention in Spain this past summer, and McKeever jokes that the level of interest was “frightening.” The devices have been field-tested in Oklahoma, New England, Mexico, Argentina, Belize and other locations worldwide with good results. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now field testing several of the dosimeters with the idea of possibly deploying them extensively at various EPA testing locations, McKeever said. Other agencies that have shown interest in the technology include the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Interior. |
Carolyn Gonzales, OSU New
Bureau
