Counter collects positrons from PET radio-pharmaceuticals
4 January 2006
The Posi-RAM coincidence counter from LabLogic Systems has been developed specifically for the low-level β+-counting necessary for studying the metabolism of the novel radio-pharmaceuticals now being used in PET medicine.
With half-lives of just 20.4 and 110 minutes respectively, the β+-emitters 11C and 18F must be produced and administered - and their metabolites identified - in the fastest possible time.
The Posi-RAM meets the last of those requirements using the same electronics platform as employed in the company's Beta-RAM on-line radio HPLC flow-through detector.
It has a flat, thin-wall cell coil sandwiched between two opposed 1' x 1' BGO crystal photomultiplier assemblies at a separation of
At the same time, backgrounds are inherently low. Only coincidences are recorded, while PMT noise and conventional gamma counter backgrounds are rejected.
The Posi-RAM is a complete counter suitable for gamma measurement as well as positrons. It has two counting channels and a digital display, and a built-in collector valve at the cell exit responds to manual or automatic control. There are digital and analog outputs.
LabLogic's Laura 3 software is available to perform decay correction, to find and integrate peaks automatically, and to control fraction collectors and auto-injectors. GLP compliance is facilitated by a multi-level, user-defined security system and a comprehensive audit trail that generates accurate and complete copies of records in both human-readable and electronic form.