M ScBi

otechBi
oinst
rument
ati
onSci
nti
l
lat
ionCount
erByDrSant
oshThakur

Sci
nti
ll
ati
onCount
er
Scinti
l
lationCounterisaninst
rumentthatisusedf ormeasuringi
onizi
ngradi
ati
on.“
It
compr isesofthescinti
l
lat
orthatgeneratesphotonsinresponsetoi
ncident
radiat
ion”,aPMTt ubeisusedt oconvertanelectr
onicsandelect
ri
csignalt
o
processt hesi
gnal.

Asci nti
ll
ationcount erisusedt odetectgammar aysandapr esenceofapar ti
cle.I
t
canal someasur ether adiati
oninthescinti
ll
ati
ngmedi um,theenergylossort he
energygai n.Themedi um canei t
herbegaseous, l
i
quidorasol id.Thescint
il
lator
count eri
sgener all
ycompr i
sedofthetransparentcrystal
li
nemat eri
alsuchas
glasses,li
qui dsorplast i
cs.Onesectoroft hescinti
ll
atorsi
spl aced(opti
calcontact
)witht hepi ncode.
Achar gedpar ti
clelosesener gywhenpassi ngthroughthescinti
ll
atorthusleav i
ng
thetr
ail ofexcitedmol eculesandatoms.Ar api
dinterat
omictransferofelectroni
c
exci
tationener gyfollows,whichleadstothebur stofscint
il
lat
ormat eri
al
(luminescencechar acteri
sti
c.Thescinti
ll
ationresponse,whenapar t
icl
est ops
l
eadingt othel i
ghtout put.Theenergylossofapar ti
cleismeasuredwhenapar ti
cle
passescompl etelythroughascintil
l
ator.

Appl
i
cat
ionsofSci
nti
l
lat
ionCount
er

1.Scinti
ll
ationCount ersarewi del yusedi nr adioacti
vecontami nati
on, r
adiation
surveymet er
s,r adi
omet ri
cassay , nuclearplantsafetyandmedi calimaging,
thatareusedt omeasur er adiation.
2.Therear esev eralcountersofmount edonhel i
coptersandsomepi ckupt r
ucks
forrapidresponsei ncaseofasecur i
tysituati
onduet oradioactivewast eor
dirt
ybombs.
3.Scinti
ll
ationcount ersdesignedf orwei ghbr i
dgeappl i
cati
ons, f
rei
ghtt erminals,
scrapmet alyards,bordersecur ity,contami nati
onmoni tori
ngofnucl earwast e
andpor ts.
4.Iti
swi delyusedi nScreeningt echnol ogies,Inviv
oandELI SAal ternative
technologies,cancerresear ch, epigenet i
csandCel lul
arresearch.
 5.Italsohasit
sappli
cat
ionsin Prot
einint
eracti
onanddetecti
on,academi
c
researchandPharmaceuti
cal
.
6.LiquidSci
nti
ll
ati
onCounteri
sat ypeofscinti
l
lati
oncountert
hatisusedf
or
measur i
ngthebetaemissi
onf r
om thenucli
des.

Li
qui
dsci
nti
ll
ati
oncount
ing
Al i
quidscintil
l
ationcount ergener al
l
yi snotpor t
able.Li
quidscinti
ll
ationcounti
ngis
themostwi delyusedt echniquef orthedetectionandquant i
fi
cationofr adi
oacti
vi
ty.
Thismeasur ementt echni
quei sappl i
cabletoal l
typesofemi ssi
ons, thoughiti
s
mostof tenusedf orbetapar t
icl
es.Liquidscintil
l
ationcounti
ngi sananal yt
ical
techniquethatmeasur esact i
vit
yofr adionucl
idesfrom therateoflightphotons
emi t
tedbyasampl e.

Samplestobecount edarepreparedbyaddi
ngasci nt
il
lat
ionfluid(cocktai
l
)tothe
betaemitt
er.Asbetaparti
clesarerel
easedandint
eractwiththef l
uid,phot
onsof
l
ightareproducedandmeasur ed.Theint
ensi
tyoftheli
ghtispr oporti
onaltot
he
energyofthebetapart
icl
e;ther
efore,
thespect
rafordif
ferent
-energybet aemit
ter
s
aresomewhatuni que.
Liquidsci
ntil
lat
ioncounting(LSCounting)isalabor
ator
y-basedtechniquethatusesaLiqui
dSci
nti
l
lat
ionCounter(LSC)tocountthe
radioact
iveemissionsfrom ali
quidsampl e.I
tisoft
enusedint hebiol
ogicalsci
encest
omeasuretheuptakeofradioact
ivei
sotopes
i
nt obiol
ogicalmateri
als.Thedif
ferentfor
msofanel ementar ecal
ledisotopes.

Fori
nstance,t
henucleusoft
heel
ementphosphor
ushas15protonsbutitmaycontai
ndiffer
ingnumbersofneutr
ons.Ifi
thas13
neut
ronsiti ed28P(
scal
l 15+13=28)andifi
thas19neutr
onsitiscal
led34P.I
nfactphosphorusexi
stsas7dif
ferenti
sotopes:

28 29 30 31 32 33 34
P, P, P, P,P, P, P

31
Pist
hemostabundantf
orm andi
sst
abl
ewher
east
heot
heri
sot
opesmaybeunst
abl
eandemi
tradi
oact
ivi
ty.I
nthecaseof32P,
a
bet
apart
icl
eisemi
tt
ed.

LSCi
samet
hodofcount
ingr
adi
oact
iveemi
ssi
onsf
rom al
i
mit
edr
angeofr
adi
onucl
i
des.Thecommoni
sot
opesusedi
ncl
ude:

I
sot
ope Hal
f-
Lif
e Decay
125
I(
Iodi
ne) 60day
s γ
3
H(
Hydr
ogenal
socal
ledt
ri
ti
um) 12.
3year
s β
14
C(
Car
bon) 5730y
ear
s β
35
S(
Sul
phur
) 87.
4day
s β
32
P(
Phosphor
us) 14.
3day
s β
125
Noti
cethatallexcept Iar
ebet aemitt
ers.Bet
aemissi
onsareoft
enloworveryl
owenergyandalt
hought
heemissi
oncansomet
imes
bedetect
edbygammar adi
ati
ondet ect
ionequi
pmentsuchasaGeiger-
Muell
erCount
er,
theener
gycaneasi
lybeabsor
bedbyt
he
compounditself
,bythesur
roundingsandcoversondet
ecti
onequi
pment .

Li
qui
dsci
nti
l
lat
ioncount
ingwasdev
elopedt
odet
ectt
hesel
owener
gybet
aemi
tt
ers.
Thebet
adecayel ect
ronemit
tedbytheradi
oact
iveisot
opeint
hesampl
eexcit
esthesol
ventmolecul
ewhichi
nt ur
ntr
ansf
erstheenergy
tot
hesolute(cal
l
edaf l
uorasitemi
tsli
ght)
.Thefluoremi
tsaphot
onofl
ightt
hatisdet
ectedbythephot
omult
ipli
ert
ubeandconvert
ed
i
ntoanelectr
icsi
gnalanddet
ectedbytheappar
atus.

Thesampl
eisdi
ssol
vedi
nal
i
qui
dsci
nti
l
lat
ioncockt
ail
thati
sty
pical
l
ycomposedoft
hef
oll
owi
ngcomponent
s:

Component Reason Exampl

eofacomponent
Sol
vent Tosol
ubi
l
iset
hef
luorandt
hesampl
e. Tol
uene,
xyl
ene,
pseudodocumene
Emul
sif
ier Adet
ergentt
oensur
epr
opermi
xi
ngofaqueoussampl
es. Tr
it
onX-
100
Fl
uor Emi
tsl
i
ghtphot
onwhenexci
tedbyabet
apar
ti
cl
e. PPO,
POPOP
Therearemanycommercial
lyavai
l
abl
eLScocktai
l
sthatar
emoreenvi
ronment
all
yfri
endl
yandcontai
nlesshazar
doussol
vent
sthan
thosel
istedabov
e.Manyarefor
mulat
edt
oallowupto40%v /
vaddi
ti
onofsampletothecockt
ail
.

I
nter
fer
ingPr
ocesses
Ther
eareanumberofphy
sical
processest
hatmaydi
sruptLSC.Thesei
ncl
ude:

Pr
ocess Expl
anat
ion Exampl
es ReducePr
obl
em By
Chemi
lumi
nescence Spuri
ousgenerat
ionofli
ghtdue Bleachingagent
s,di
oxane-
basedEqui
li
bratesampl
eforaper
iod
tochemical
processes. scint
il
lator
s ofti
mei ntheLSC
Phot
olumi
nescence Emissi
onofphotonsfrom Vials,
caps,ot
hermat er
ialsin Acidi
fysamples;avoi
dexposure
exci
tedmol
ecularspecies. theLSC.Somesampl essuchas t osunli
ghtorfl
uorescent
protei
naceousmat er
ial
swhen l ighti
ng.Darkadaptsamplesfor
dissol
vedinalkal
i
nesol ubil
i
sers sever
alhoursbeforecounti
ng.
suchashy amine.
Backgr
ound Radi
oacti
vit
ythatdoesnotar
ise Chancecoi nci
dence,cosmic Usi
ngappropr
iateblankst
o
fr
om thesample. rays,Cerenkovradi
ati
on,natur
al cor
rectf
orbackground.
radioacti
vi
tysuchast hor
ium,
potassium-40anduranium.
Quenchi
ng Reduct
ioni
nthesci
nti
l
lat
ion Photonquenching,chemi cal UseI nternal
Standardsto
countr
ate. i
mpur i
tyquenching,col
our accountf orquenchi
ng.A
quenching(
seedi agram below)
. standar dwit
haknown
CPM/ DPM isaddedand
measur edandt hereduct
iondue
toquenchi ngadjust
edforinthe
measur edsampl es.
Theout
putoft
heLSCi
sei
theri
nCPM orDPM.

CPM (Countsperminut
e)-gi
vesar awvalueforthenumberofradi
oacti
veeventsmeasur
edperminute.Oft
enthesampl
eiscounted
foralongerper
iod(
5–10mi nutes)toaccountforanyaber
rat
ionsinshort
ercount
sduetotheradi
oactiv
eeventsbei
ngarandom
process.

DPM (Di
sintegrat
ionsperminut
e)-adjust
edCPM valuet
ot akei
ntoaccountt
heef
fici
encyoft
heLSC.Forinst
ance,theLSCdoesnot
countal
lradioact
ivedi
sint
egrat
ionsastheyoccuri
nallt
hreedimensi
onsaroundt
hesamplecont
ainerandthedetectori
snotabl
eto
measurethem all
.

Exampl
esoft
heuseofLSCount
ing

1. ViralProt
eins:Protei
nsproducedbyv iruseswhentheyinfectacellareproducedi nverysmal l
amountsandar ediff
icul
tto
detectandpur i
fy.I
fvir
us-i
nfectedcell
sar efedaradi
oacti
v eaminoacid, t
heneacht i
met hataminoaci
dislinkedtoformt he
growingproteinaradioact
ive‘l
abel’i
sat t
achedtotheprotein.Thi
sradioacti
ve‘ l
abel
’isthenusedt omonit
ort he
ng3H,
14
i
dent i
fi
cati
onandpur ifi
cat
ionoft hevir
al pr
otei
n.Aminoacidscontaini Cand35Sar eoftenusedtolabelprot
eins.35S
i
spar ti
cul
arlyusefulassulphurisonlyfoundintwoami noacids–met hi
onineandcy steine.

2. Envi
ronmentalMonitor
ing:Checki or3Hspi
ngf ll
sinthelaborat
ory.Tr
it
ium i
ssuchaweakemi tt
erthati
tspr
esencecannot
bedetectedbyaGeiger-
Muellercount
er.Wi
petest
ingisusuall
yused.Thisi
swheresuspectsur
facesarewi
pedwithapiece
oft
issue.Theti
ssueisplacedinLSCocktai
li
naLSv ialandcount
edint heLSCount
er.

Sol
i
dSci
nti
l
lat
ionCount
er–Pr
inci
pleofOper
ati
on
Appar
atuswi
thasci
nti
l
lat
ingcr
yst
al,
phot
omul
ti
pli
er,
anddat
aacqui
sit
ioncomponent
s.

Ascinti
l
lationcount erorscinti
ll
ati
ondet ect
orisaradiati
ondetect
orwhichusestheeff
ectknownassci nt
il
lat
ion.
Sci
nti
ll
ationi saflashoflightproducedinatransparentmater
ialbythepassageofapart
icl
e(anelect
ron,analpha
par
ti
cle,ani on,orahigh-energyphoton).Sci
nti
ll
ati
onoccur si
nthescint
il
lat
or,whi
chisakeypartofascinti
ll
ati
on
det
ector.Ingener al
,ascinti
ll
ati
ondet ect
orconsist
sof :

 Sci
nti
ll
ator
.Ascint
il
lat
orgeneratesphotonsinresponsetoi
nci
dentr
adi
ati
on.
 Phot
odetector
.Asensit
ivephotodet
ector(usual
lyaphotomult
ipl
i
ert
ube(PMT),
achar
ge-
coupl
eddev
ice
(CCD)camer
a,oraphot
odi
ode)
,whi
chconv
ert
sthel
i
ghtt
oanel
ect
ri
cal
signal
andel
ect
roni
cst
opr
ocesst
his
signal
.

Thebasicpri
ncipl
eofoper ati
oninvol
vest heradi
ati
onreact
ingwithascint
il
lat
or,
whichpr oducesaseri
esoff l
ashesof
vary
ingi
ntensit
y.Theintensit
yoftheflashesispropor
ti
onaltotheener
gyoft heradi
ati
on.Thisfeat
ureisveryimport
ant
.
Thesecountersaresui
tedt omeasuret heenergyofgammar adi
ati
on(gammaspect roscopy)and,t
heref
ore,canbe
usedtoidenti
fygammaemi tt
ingisot
opes.

Sci
nti
l
lat
ionCount
er–Pr
inci
pleofOper
ati
on
Theoper
ati
onofsci
nti
l
lat
ioncount
ersi
ssummar
izedi
nthef
oll
owi
ngpoi
nts:
 Scint
il
lation
Count er–Pr incipleofOper ation.
 Ionizingr adi ationent erst hesci ntil
latorandi nteractswi ththescintil
latormat eri
al.Thiscauseel ect
ronst obe
raisedt oanexci t
edst at e.
 Forchar gedpar ticlest het racki sthepat hofthepar ti
cleit
self.
 Forgammar ays( unchar ged) ,theirenergyi sconv ert
edt oanener geticelectronv iaeither
thephot oelectri
cef fect,Compt onscat t
eringorpai rproducti
on.
 Theex citedat omsoft hesci nt i
llatormat eri
alde- exciteandr apidl
yemi taphot oni nthev isible(ornear -vi
sibl
e)
l
ightr ange.Thequant ityispr opor tional totheener gydeposi tedbyt hei onizingpar ti
cle.Themat eri
alissai dt
o
fluoresce.
 Thr eecl assesofphosphor sar eused:
 i nor gani ccr yst
als,
 or gani ccr ystal
s,
 pl asticphosphor s.
 Thel ightcr eatedi nthesci nti
llatorst r
ikest hephot ocat hodeofaphot omul t
ipli
ert ube,rel
easi ngatmostone
phot oel ect ronperphot on.
 Usi ngav oltagepot ent i
al, t
hisgr oupofpr imar yelect ronsiselectrostaticall
yaccel eratedandf ocusedsot hat
theyst ri
ket hef i
rstdy nodewi thenoughener gytor eleaseaddi t
ional electrons.
 Thesesecondar yelect ronsar eat tractedandst r
ikeaseconddy noder eleasingmor eelectrons.Thi spr ocess
occur si nt hephot omul t
ipli
ert ube.
 Eachsubsequentdy nodei mpactr eleasesf urtherel ectrons,andsot her eisacur rentampl ifyingef f
ectateach
dy nodest age.Eachst agei satahi gherpot ent i
althant hepr evi
oust opr ov i
det heaccel eratingf iel
d.
 Pr i
mar ysi gnal ismul ti
pl i
edandt hisampl ifi
cat i
oncont i
nuest hr
ough10t o12st ages.
 Att hef i
naldy node, suf fi
cientel ect ronsar eav ail
abl etopr oduceapul seofsuf fi
cientmagni tudef orfurther
ampl ificat ion.Thi spul secar r
iesi nformat ionaboutt heener gyoft heor iginalincidentradiation.Thenumberof
suchpul sesperuni ttimeal sogi vesi nformat ionaboutt heintensi
t yoft her adiat
ion.