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LOW-DOSE, ACCURTAE SCREENING INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE BODY NITROGEN AND CALCIUM
Phone: (617) 547-1122
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A COMPACT, ACCELERATOR-BASED FACILITY THAT ACCURATELY MEASURES THE FRACTION OF NITROGEN AND CALCIUM IN THE BODY. THE PROPOSED FACILITY WILL DETERMINE BODY CONTENT OF THESE ELEMENTS FROM RESONANTGAMMA ABSORPTION (RGA) MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE ELEMENT SPECIFIC. A MAJOR APPLICATION IS THE ROUTINE SCREENING OF MUSCLE AND BONE MASS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL, WHICH WILL ALLOW THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MINIMUM-MUSCLE-MASS STANDARD FOR NEW RECRUITS. LOW-DOSE SERIAL NITROGEN (MUSCLE) AND CALCIUM (BONE) MASS MEASUREMENTS ON TROOPS UNDEROGING RIGOROUS TRAINING WILL ALSO PERMIT A QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM DIET AS A FUNCTION OF EXERCISE REGIMEN. IN VIVO NEUTRON-ACTIVATION ANALYSIS (IVNA) IS CURRENTLY THE MOST ACCURATE TECHNIQUE FOR QUANTIFYING BODY COMPOSITION. RGA WILL ACHIEVE COMPARABLE OR BETTER ACCURACY IN A SHORTER TIME PERIOD AND WITH RADIATION DOSES THAT ARE 3-4 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LOWER THAN REQUIRED BY IVNA. UNLIKE ELABORATE, EXPENSIVE IVNA FACILITIES, A CLINICAL RGA INSTRUMENT WILL BE COMPACT AND SIMPLE ENOUGH TO BE INSTALLED IN MANY MILITARY MEDICAL FACILITY AND TO BE OPERATED BY THEIR STAFF. THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT IS A THEORETICAL EFFORT TO DESIGN THE COMPONENTS OF A FACILITY DEDICATED TO MAKING RGA BODY COMPOSITION MEASUREMENTS, PARTICULARLY THE 2-MeV ELECTROSTATIC PROTON ACCELERATOR AND ITS INTEGRATION WITH THE PORTON TARGET AND THE ARRAY OF GAMMA-RAY DETECTORS. THIS FACILITY WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED IN PHASE II.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *