Mirion Technologies Inc.’s Irvine-based division, a manufacturer of personal radiation monitoring devices widely used by healthcare clinicians, power plants, the military, government agencies, and most notably NASA will expand its offerings with the acquisition of German firm Dosimetrics.
The purchase of Dosimetrics was announced on Dec. 7 on undisclosed financial terms. Dosimetrics will become part of Mirion’s existing Dosimetry Services Division, which is based at 2652 McGaw Ave., near the Diamond Jamboree shopping center.
Dosimetry measures the amount of radiation absorbed by workers in a variety of industries, including hospital X-ray rooms, dental offices, veterinary businesses, and other settings. Dosimetry technology is used to monitor radiation levels at nuclear power plants, research locations, government facilities, and in the military.
The addition of Dosimetrics will expand and broaden Mirion’s related product and service offerings, officials said.
“By acquiring Dosimetrics we will be able to strengthen our service offering globally,” said Bart LeClou, the vice president of sales and marketing for the Mirion Dosimetry Services Division, told the Business Journal. “We will be able to further extend our business into other countries by selling a complete solution that includes full-scale commercial dosimetry equipment like readers, software, and automation systems.”
The Irvine facility handles manufacturing and shipping, customer service, and finance, and holds the company’s dose analysis team—technical folks dealing with dose readings.
Dosimetrics supplies equipment for radiation readers using advanced technology called optically stimulated luminescence. Dosimetrics also provides readers, erasers, software, accessories, and automation systems
“We actually bought the supplier so that we have full control over our supply chain,” LeClou said.
Mirion’s flagship innovation, the wireless Instadose device, eliminates the need for customers to collect and return badges to the dosimetry provider.
Instadose dosimeters provide instant access to current and historical dose data, along with the ability to make account changes online within minutes.
NASA Astronauts
Mirion’s DSD unit in Irvine created a real-time dosimeter for NASA astronauts to use on space missions, with the company’s contributions to space explorers going back almost 25 years. Radiation poses some of the greatest risks to astronauts in outer space.
“One of the best ways NASA has found to accurately monitor individual astronaut exposure to radiation during space missions is by equipping them with personal radiation monitoring dosimeters featuring the Instadose technology,” the company says.
The company’s radiation-detecting devices units have also been used on unmanned missions to Mars and Mercury among other flights.
The Mirion Dosimetry Services Division in Irvine began as ICN in 1973, became Global Dosimetry Services in 2003 and then Mirion DSD in 2006. Lou Biacchi is the division’s president.
Dosimetrics was founded in 2013 in Munich, and produces dosimeters and dosimetry solutions for a range of customers.
Increased Importance
The Mirion unit says radiation detection has become increasingly important. Ionizing radiation exposure in the U.S. rose 74%, on a per-capita basis, from the early 1980s to 2006, with nearly half of the exposure related to medical imaging.
Even with the development of medical imaging and technologies that produce or involve less radiation, the growth and increased volume of procedures that involve medical imaging and radiation sources has grown exponentially in the last 30 years, according to Mirion. Although the exposure may be less per procedure, the number and type of procedures has grown and subjects the clinician/worker to increased exposure.
The company also says that more computed tomography (CT) scans are being performed and CT is estimated to account for half of all medical radiation exposure.
