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| Typical Number in Hospital: 3 | Cost Bands: 5,6 | References: 3 |
This is an automated well counter for assessing the radioactive content of test samples. Several hundred samples may be moved along a conveyer and lowered one at a time into a scintillation counter of which the scintillation crystal is shaped into a well to receive the sample. The result of the counting from each sample is often handled by computer and the preparation of the samples is simpler than that required for a liquid scintillation counter. The crystal is housed in a thin aluminium can to exclude light but allow gamma rays to pass through. Gamma ray energies above about 20 keV may be counted.
Such devices may be found in the nuclear medicine, haematology, chemical pathology or immunology departments. A typical application would be the estimation of the amount of radioactive chromium in a blood sample.
Content and Design Copyright 2000 Dr. Malcolm C Brown. See Title Page for more details