Design, manufacture and deployment of a low-cost area radiation monitoring system using Raspberry Pi computers and open-source software.

Monitoring of background radiation levels in radiopharmaceutical laboratories is a key tool in minimising dose to workers. Retrofitting area monitoring systems in an existing laboratory can be disruptive and prohibitively expensive. We set out to develop a flexible low-cost area monitoring system utilising the power of inexpensive single board computers and open-source software. A complete system has been developed which includes local and remote real-time display with local warning, dose rate logging and automated plotting and backup of results from over 20 individual monitors connected via wifi.