Accelerator mass spectrometry in biomedicine

A variety of complementary techniques have been used in connection with accelerator mass spectrometry in the field of biomedicine, facilitating extreme measurement capabilities. A number of new interdisciplinary research areas have subsequently been developed, with unique analytical capabilities. Examples are:

Sensitivity
In pharmacology, we have demonstrated detection of ¹⁴C-marked drugs in human blood in the zeptomole level range (1 zeptomole=10^-21 mole).

Small samples
Microdosing (clinical phase 0 trials). New drug candidates can be administered directly to human subjects at an early stage to extract important pharmacokinetic data. This provides information on how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted.

Regenerative medicine
In a long term collaborative work with Karolinska Institutet we have developed a method to study specific cell types and extract neurogenesis rates for various parts of the human brain, previously not possible. See also The Human Regenerative Map.

Forensic Sciences 
In collaboration with the law authorities, date of birth and death can be determined for samples such as teeth from deceased individuals.