Research at Fox Chase »Research Facilities »Animal Research

Darrell Q. Brown, PhD Director Corinne C. Stobbe, MSc Facility Manager

Reimann Building, Room R314 215-728-4311 Corinne.Stobbe@fccc.edu

Function

The Irradiation Facility enables Fox Chase investigators to accurately expose chemical and biological specimens to ionizations by Cesium-137 gamma rays. The gamma irradiators are used to irradiate molecules in solution, cell cultures, rodent tumors, and/or rodents for studies of radiobiologic mechanisms, to suppress immune responses in experimental animals, as well as to sterilize various cell, vaccine and drug preparations. The Facility staff is available to Fox Chase investigators for planning radiation experiments, assisting those who are infrequent users of irradiators, training individuals to be qualified users of specific equipment in accordance with NRC and other safety regulations, and making dosimetry measurements.

Description

The Irradiation Facility operates two different sources of Cs-137 gamma rays sited at two different locations that are optimal for their experimental usage. One Cesium-137 irradiator is a self-shielded isotope source that can expose all or parts of objects located in a chamber (1.25" x 5" x 7") at dose-rates of 1.5 Gy/min or less. This irradiator is used mainly to suppress the immune response of small experimental animals by whole body irradiation. The other irradiator is a panoramic irradiator that can be operated to produce either vertical or horizontal beams of gamma rays at high intensity within a shielded experimental room. Dose-rates of 2.5 Gy/min are obtained by placing samples adjacent to the isotope source and lower dose-rates are achieved with attenuation and by positioning experiments at various distances from the source. This irradiator was installed and commissioned in 1992.