Title :
An MCP-based system for beta autoradiography
Author :
Lees, J.E. ; Pearson, J.F. ; Fraser, G.W. ; Hales, J.M. ; Richards, P.G.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Leicester Univ., UK
fDate :
6/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Describes a pre-commercial prototype autoradiography system which can be used to image a variety of radio-labelled biological samples, ranging from lymphocyte proliferation assays to semi-thin whole-body tissue slices. These samples can be imaged with high spatial resolution (~70 microns) and high sensitivity (e.g. 3H-minimum detectable activity 0.001 Bq in 20 hours) over a wide (5-6 orders of magnitude) dynamic range. Specimens are automatically presented, through a vacuum load-lock, to an imaging microchannel plate (MCP) detector operating in high (~10-6 mbar) vacuum. We present images obtained from tritium-labelled samples and discuss the importance of the new system for a variety of biological techniques
Keywords :
biomedical equipment; image resolution; microchannel plates; radioisotope imaging; sensitivity; 3H-labelled samples; automatic specimen presentation; autoradiography system; beta testing; biological techniques; dynamic range; imaging microchannel plate detector; lymphocyte proliferation assays; minimum detectable activity; pre-commercial prototype system; radioactively-labelled biological samples; semi-thin whole-body tissue slices; sensitivity; spatial resolution; vacuum; vacuum load-lock; Anodes; Cameras; Detectors; Dynamic range; Electrokinetics; High-resolution imaging; Microchannel; Pollution measurement; Prototypes; Spatial resolution;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
