BIOMEDICAL ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETER

该计划的目标是开发一种紧凑的加速器质量 光谱（AMS）系统，专门用于测量超低量的 标记生物样品中的碳-14和氚。仪器将 灵敏度比液体高2-3个数量级 闪烁衰变计数器，并将允许测量碳-14 在现代样品中的浓度等于或低于自然发生的水平。 用碳-14和/或碳-14标记生物活性分子， 氚是一种强大的和广泛使用的技术，用于研究 体内分子动力学AMS提供的高灵敏度允许 研究人类致癌物、诱变剂和毒素在 在极低的暴露水平下的分子水平。现有的AMS系统 利用大型、昂贵的串联加速器，并且通常不 提供给生物医学研究人员。我们建议开发一种创新的 低能量AMS仪器，与安装和操作兼容， 生物医学研究实验室该工具的可用性 将大大增加可以进行的研究的数量和类型 使用14 C和氚放射性标记。 建议的商业应用：在此开发的AMS仪器 计划将有广泛的商业应用。研究人员研究 致癌作用，代谢和药物作用将大大受益于 用于定量的超灵敏仪器的可用性 生物样本中的14 C和氚。成本、规模和运营 拟议文书的要求将符合 安装在主要的生物医学研究中心。

The goal of this program is to develop a compact accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) system dedicated to measuring ultra-low quantities of carbon-l4 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 in vivo. The high sensitivity afforded by AMS allows the fate of human 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 biomedical researchers. We propose to develop an innovative low-energy AMS instrument compatible with installation and operation in a biomedical research laboratory. The availability of this instrument will greatly expand the number and type of studies which can be conducted using 14C and tritium radiolabels. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The AMS instrument developed in this program will have widespread commercial application. Researchers studying carcinogenesis, metabolism and drug effects would benefit greatly from the availability of an ultra-sensitive instrument for the quantitation of 14C and tritium in biological samples. The cost, size and operating requirements of the proposed instrument will be compatible with installation at major biomedical research center.