Vertilon Launches SIB164 for H7546B Multianode Photomultiplier Tube

WESTFORD, MA (July 14, 2008) – Vertilon Corporation (http://www.vertilon.com), a leader in high performance multichannel data acquisition systems for optical sensors, announced today that it has launched the SIB164 sensor interface board for the Hamamatsu H7546B sixty-four anode photomultiplier tube.

The SIB164 provides the mechanical and electrical interface between the H7546B and a 64 channel data acquisition system like Vertilon's PhotoniQ IQSP482 or IQSP582. Charge signals from high speed events such as those produced in PET or gamma cameras are detected by the PMT mounted on the SIB164 and sent over specialized cables to the data acquisition system. When used with an IQSP582 PhotoniQ system, the SIB164 achieves single photon sensitivity at event rates exceeding 200,000 events per second.

The SIB164's compact and standardized design allows the typical user to easily mount the Hamamatsu H7546B to it and collect data from the PhotoniQ - no custom electronics, specialized equipment, or additional software is required. Similar in function to Vertilon's SIB064 for the Hamamatsu H8500D, the SIB164 has a last dynode preamplifier and three types of on-board pulse discriminators.

In many applications the last dynode from the PMT offers a convenient means for detecting particle or scintillation events since it is effectively a shared connection between all anodes in a multianode photomultiplier tube. A pulse from the last dynode is coincident with the output from the PMT anodes and therefore can be used to initiate the collection of the charge signals by a data acquisition system. The discriminators that follow the preamp convert the last dynode charge signals into digital pulses that are used to trigger the PhotoniQ or, if necessary, other equipment.

The SIB164 also includes the interface to the H7546B high voltage cathode bias which can be conveniently supplied by the PhotoniQ. "The SIB164 represents the latest addition to our growing line of products for multianode photomultiplier tubes, avalanche photodiodes, and silicon photomultipliers" said Vincent Palermo, President and Founder of Vertilon.

"With each new product Vertilon has shown that it is at the forefront of the industry for high performance multichannel data acquisition systems." Vertilon says the SIB164 is in production and available today. The company also manufactures sensor interface boards for other commonly available multianode PMTs and avalanche photodiode arrays like Hamamatsu's H8711, H7260, H8500D, and R5900U-L16, as well as for Pacific Silicon Sensors' AD-LA-16-9-DIL18 16 element linear avalanche photodiode array. Target applications for Vertilon's products include PET, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), high energy particle physics, gamma cameras, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, small animal imaging, and radiation monitoring.

About Vertilon Corporation (http://www.vertilon.com)
Vertilon manufactures advanced products for markets utilizing multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, avalanche photodiode arrays, silicon photomultipliers, and other multi-element charge-based sensors. Vertilon's core product line is the PhotoniQ, a family of high performance multi-channel data acquisition systems that interface to optical sensors and collect and process their output signals. Over the last seven years, Vertilon's PhotoniQ products have been used throughout the world by leading universities, government laboratories, and corporate R&D groups in applications that include particle physics, flow cytometry, bioaerosol detection, SPECT, positron emission tomography (PET), gamma cameras, and confocal microscopy.

For product information, contact:
Sales Department
Vertilon Corporation
(978) 692-7070 ext 1#

For marketing information, contact:
Product Marketing
Vertilon Corporation
(978) 692-7070 ext 5#

Vertilon contact:
Vincent Palermo ext 7#
Vertilon Corporation
66 Tadmuck Road
Westford, Massachusetts 01886
(978) 692-7070
http://www.vertilon.com