A generic methodology for the three dimensional display of radiation fields

Abstract

The radiation field visualization options available for engineers, scientists and health physicists have traditionally been based in the 2d realm, with techniques such as the generation of isodose curves. From the perspective of a health physicist the creation of 3d visuals to illustrate radiation levels within an environment is an invaluable tool both for training and As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) radiation dose planning. This thesis describes a novel technique for the creation of 3d visualizations of radiation fields. The methodology is developed and shown to be effective within the Google SketchUp Computer Aided Design (CAD) software package. The methodology takes an input file of information stored in coordinate form with a representative value at each point. It constructs elemental shapes automatically within Google SketchUp at those coordinates. All shapes are associated with an intensity value related to a pre-defined scale. The shapes are colorized and enhanced with transparency effects to complete a radiation field visualization scene.