Biospace β microprobe

local, fast kinetics with PET tracers


  
     
     
  β microprobe is a very local probe sensitive to β+ and to some β- radiotracers. It can therefore measure, in a well-defined volume, the kinetics of a radiolabelled molecule with very short sampling times.

β microprobe is a unique instrument that results from tight interaction between Biospace, researchers in physics1 and researchers in neurosciences. Being a very recently introduced technique, there are still large areas of applications for which it has not yet been used. Biospace believes that new fields of in vivo studies will open thanks to that simple, cost effective and yet powerful piece of equipment.

An experiment with β microprobe involves two probes per animal, a specific and a non-specific one; the later is used as a reference. The β microprobe is equipped with two or four probe lines, each consisting of a fiber optic. For the two probes system, an upgrade can be offered for another set of two lines to allow experimentation in parallel on, for instance, two different animals. During an experiment with β microprobe the animal is usually anaesthetized and constrained by a stereotaxic table. The two probes are stereotaxically implanted in the organ.

β microprobe relies on the conversion of β disintegrations in a scintillating fiber tip at the very end of each probe. The resulting light is guided in the optical fiber, and then counted by a photomultiplier. The front-end electronics provide real time display of the number of particles detected during the sampling time by each probe. The signal on display can be corrected for background suppression, for radioactive decay and for probe differential response.