Introduction; Intended Use; Indications For Use - biodex ATOMLAB 960 Operation And Service Manual

1. Introduction

Intended Use

The Atomlab Medical Spectrometer is used by Nuclear Medicine Departments as a radiation
counter that is intended to count the patient's thyroid. The device consists of a computer and
either a NaI(Tl) detector in a collimated shield and/or in a well counter.

Indications For Use

The Atomlab 960 Medical Spectrometer is typically used in nuclear medicine departments,
clinics and nuclear pharmacies to measure the radioactive level of a sample in counts, or counts
per minute (cpm), using a 1024 channel multi-channel analyzer. The counting spectrum is
displayed during counting.
The Atomlab 960 can be used to perform thyroid uptake studies, manual mode counting, wipe
testing, and bioassay measurements.
Each detector is connected to a multi-channel analyzer. The detectors are used to count
radiation that hits the detector for the various functions they are used for. The detector in the
probe is used for performing thyroid uptake studies. The thyroid uptake consists of counting a
radioactive dose before it is given to the patient and after a period of time, the patient returns
and their thyroid is counted in the same geometry as the dose was counted. Patient
background is also counted. The computer system calculates the decayed values for the dose
so that a standard dose of the same activity is not required to be counted when the patient
thyroid and background are counted. This saves the facility money by not needing a duplicate
dose to compare to. A standard formula is used for calculating the thyroid uptake. Thyroid
uptake allows measurement of global function of the thyroid gland as reflected by the
quantitative evaluation of radiotracer accumulation by the gland.
The Atomlab 960 is a complete thyroid uptake and analysis system specifically designed for
nuclear medicine. The Atomlab 960 is capable of performing a full range of studies. This
system provides fast, accurate results for Uptake Studies, Wipe Testing, Manual Mode, and
Bioassay.
The heart of the Atomlab 960 is a microprocessor-controlled 1024 channel Multi-Channel
Analyzer, coupled to a 2" x 2" NaI(Tl) detector with a personal computer interface. The system
offers simple, straight-forward operation using 32, pre-programmed isotopes, unlimited
user-defined isotopes, and menu-driven prompts to guide the user step by step through each
procedure. The pre-programmed isotopes include I-123, I-125, I-131, Co-57, Cr-51, Tc-99m,
Tl-201 and Cs-137. The user-defined isotopes also allow for isotope identification while the
printer provides hard copy printouts for patient and department record keeping.
The Atomlab 960 has a memory allowing storage of an unlimited number of patients with
multiple uptakes on each. Additional features include an automatic self-diagnostic program,
automatic calibration mode, choice of manual counting procedures for uptake studies, with
automatic isotope decay correction of uptake measurements. These features help make this the
most simple and accurate thyroid uptake system available today. The Atomlab 960 Thyroid
Uptake System is an advanced multi-purpose spectrum analysis instrument designed for diverse
nuclear medicine applications. Uptake studies, bioassay, wipe tests, and other user-defined
tasks are accomplished with speed and precision using this fully integrated computer-
controlled instrument and its comprehensive selection of application software.
ATOMLAB 960 MEDICAL SPECTROMETER INTRODUCTION 1-1