Data analyzing system having provision for optimizing counting conditions and thus improving statistical counting validity for enabling accurate computation of sample activity levels in liquid scintillation spectrometry

摘要

A data analyzing system for scintillation spectrometers of the type for measuring activity levels of samples containing radioactive isotopes and subjected to varying degrees of quench, including methods and apparatus for optimizing counting conditions and thereby improving statistical counting validity irrespective of the degree of quenching present in any given sample, and wherein a measured parameter indicative of the effective quench condition of each sample is utilized to automatically adjust, by preselected preset amounts, the counting window for any given isotope relative to the observed energy spectrum for that isotope. Various methods and apparatus are described which, although suitable for optimizing counting conditions for both multiple-labeled and single-labeled test samples, are particularly effective in creating significantly improved isotope separations when dealing with multiple- labeled samples -- for example, a double-labeled sample containing tritium (.sup.3 H) and carbon-14 (.sup.14 C).