ABSTRACT
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a nuclear physics technique, used for the measurement of rare isotopes. AMS is an extremely sensitive and precise technique for detecting and quantifying radiotracers. AMS opened up the field of carbon dating. AMS was developed to measure levels of carbon much lower than those that exist as background. A degree of sample preparation is required prior to AMS analysis. Due to demands for biomedical use, more compact AMS instruments have been developed. Approximately 2 mg of carbon is required, to be pressed into cathodes, which are placed into the ion source of the AMS. The raw unit for AMS is percent modern carbon, a somewhat confusing term for the biomedical scientist. The sensitivity of AMS is essentially one atom. AMS is well established in drug development as a highly sensitive method of detecting radiotracers.
