Rapid Data Collection Systems for Time Resolved X-Ray Scattering Experiments in Molecular Biology

Time resolved X-ray diffraction studies on contracting muscle have proven very useful in obtaining dynamic structural information, at a molecular level, which is helping in improving our understanding of force generation. This paper outlines the general requirements for X-ray detection and electronic routing systems for use with muscle and other similar specimens possessing time-varying structures. A parallel-readout multiwire linear detector is described, capable of counting in excess of 10 MHz; when used in conjunction with the specially developed multichannel-multiscaler system it is capable of time slicing X-ray data to 1 millisecond.