Feasibility study of activity measurement of positron emitters based on gamma-gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors.

Detection of two and more γ-rays in coincidence by two NaI(Tl) detectors with almost 4π geometry allows absolute characterization of radionuclides emitting coincidence gammas. The method is a generalization of the Eldridge-Crowther method developed originally for x-rays and low energy γ-rays. This method is applied to the case of (94)Nb decay with two coincident gamma-rays emitted in one cascade. The application of this method for the case of coincident positron-gamma emission ((22)Na and (26)Al sources) meets some difficulties. In these decays, two 511 keV gamma quanta produced in positron annihilation are strongly correlated. Despite the fact that the third gamma emitted in (22)Na and (26)Al decays is not correlated with two annihilation quanta, the number of independent observables for (22)Na and (26)Al decays is less than the number of unknowns. The small parameter ω(00), the probability that both annihilation quanta escape detection in both NaI(Tl) detectors, cannot be determined. However, if this parameter is defined from experimental data for one source with known activity ((22)Na), the activity of the other source ((26)Al) can be calculated from experimental data for (26)Al decay.

Absolute 108Agm characterization based on gamma-gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors.

A two-dimensional analysis of three coincident gamma-rays in (108)Ag(m) decay, detected by two NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors, allows a direct measurement of the source activity. A modification of the Eldridge-Crowther formulas derived originally for (125)I was done recently for the case of two coincident gamma-rays in (60)Co decay (Volkovitsky and Naudus, 2009). A similar approach is applied to a more complicated case of three coincident gamma-rays in the (108)Ag(m) decay. The large number of experimental quantities, measured both in coincidence and anticoincidence modes, allows the determination of both detector efficiencies for all three gamma-ray photopeaks and to find the source activity. Results are compared with measurements of the activity of the same source with HPGe detectors.

NIST 222Rn emission standards.

NIST radon standards are hermetically sealed polyethylene capsules filled with 226Ra solution. Recently, four new series of standards with activities 5, 50, 500, and 5000 Bq were prepared. The measured emanation fraction agrees with a calculation that accounts for the radon accumulated inside the polyethylene walls of the capsule. Obtained solubility of radon in polyethylene is approximately 45 of the solubility of radon in water. The radon diffusion coefficient in low-density polyethylene is 7.2x10(-8)cm2/s.

Ultra-high sensitivity multi-photon detection imaging in proteomics analyses.

We report on the use of 125I and 131I labeling and of new, multicolor, multi-photon detection (MPD) methods to routinely and quantitatively detect protein spots on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis plates in the zeptomole to attomole range. We demonstrate that the MPD methodology can be used to detect radioactive labels on two-dimensional gels and has several characteristics that are advantageous for functional proteomics. First, by using single particle detectors, the sensitivity for detection of radiolabels can be improved dramatically. Second, because single particle detectors can differentiate the particle energies produced by different decay processes, it is possible to choose combinations of radioisotopes that can be detected and quantified individually on the same 2-D gel. Third, the MPD technology is essentially linear over six to seven orders of magnitude, i.e., it is possible to accurately quantify radiolabeled proteins over a range from at least 60 zeptomoles to 60 femtomoles. Finally for radionuclides that decay by electron capture, e.g., with emission of both beta and gamma rays, co-incident detection of two particles/photons can be used to detect such radionuclides well below background radiation levels. These methods are used to monitor acidic/phosphorylated proteins in as little as 60 ng of HeLa cells proteins.