A Compact Accelerator Mass Spectrometer for the Analysis of Biological Samples

该计划的目标是开发一种紧凑，低成本的加速器质谱（AMS）系统，专门用于测量标记生物样品中的超低量碳14和氚。该仪器的灵敏度将比液体闪烁衰变计数器高2-3个数量级，并将允许测量现代样品中处于或低于天然水平的碳-14浓度。用碳-14和/或氚标记生物活性分子是用于分子动力学研究的强大且广泛使用的技术。AMS提供的高灵敏度允许在分子水平上以极低的暴露水平研究环境致癌物、诱变剂和毒素的命运。现有的AMS系统利用大型、昂贵的串联加速器，并且通常不可用于生物学家和生物医学研究人员。Newton Scientific，Incorporated（NSI）提出开发一种创新的低能量AMS仪器，专门设计用于生物研究实验室。在拟议的第一阶段工作中，NSI将评估和优化用于生物样品的低能AMS系统的性能，并为第二阶段的建造和测试开发系统工程设计。该仪器的可用性将极大地扩展可以使用14 C和氚放射性标记进行的生物学研究的数量和类型。

The goal of this program is to develop a compact, low cost accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) system dedicated to measuring ultra-low quantities of carbon-14 and tritium in labeled biological samples. The instrument will have a sensitivity 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than that of liquid scintillation decay counters and will allow the measurement of carbon-14 concentrations at or below naturally occurring levels in modern samples. The labeling of biologically active molecules with carbon-14 and/or tritium is a powerful and widely used technique for the study of molecular kinetics. The high sensitivity afforded by AMS allows the fate of environmental carcinogens, mutagens and toxins to be studied on the molecular level at extremely low levels of exposure. Existing AMS systems utilize large, expensive tandem accelerators and are generally not available to the biologists and biomedical researchers. Newton Scientific, Incorporated (NSI) proposes to develop an innovative low energy AMS instrument designed specifically for operation in a biological research laboratory. In the proposed Phase 1 effort, NSI will evaluate and optimize the performance capabilities of a low energy AMS system for biological samples and develop a system engineering design for construction and testing in Phase 2. The availability of this instrument will greatly expand the number and type of biological studies which can be conducted using l4C and tritium radiolabels.