Application of Heavy Charged Particle Induced X-Ray Emission to the Trace Element Analysis of Human Tissue and Blood Serum

Abstract

Measurements of peak-to-background ratios for K x-ray production by 1.7 MeV/amu protons, alpha particles, carbon ions, and neon ions have been carried out for the purpose of determining the optimum projectile atomic number for particle induced x-ray emission analysis. The feasibility of applying the method to the trace element analysis of thick samples of tissue and blood serum has been explored.

Trace elemental analysis by heavy ion induced x-ray emission

“…The feasibility of multielement analysis can be evaluated by comparing the K and L x-ray yields for the different projectile energies given in Figure 5 with the corresponding pattern for the background (Figure 3). Considering the data presented in Figure 5, the following features become apparent: for a given projectile energy the production of K and L x rays follows the same trend as Z varies; still more interesting is the observation that the yields of K and L x rays of similar energies are about the same for identical excitation conditions (nature and energy of projectile), e.g., for a beam of 2 MeV/amu, the K x-ray yield for P ( » = 2 keV) is about the same as the L x-ray yield for 2r (El = 2.1 keV). For this reason,…”

“…A considerable amount of work has been devoted in recent years to charged particle induced x-ray emission as a multielement trace analysis method. Most studies thus far have involved proton or a excitation and have focused on the optimization of experimental parameters for maximum measurement sensitivity and the application of the technique to a variety of samples including air filters and biological specimens (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In this context proton excitation applied on thin samples is considered to provide the best analytical results, i.e., high sensitivity (as low as ~10"7 g/g for Ep ~2-4 MeV) coupled with broad elemental coverage (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

“…Most studies thus far have involved proton or a excitation and have focused on the optimization of experimental parameters for maximum measurement sensitivity and the application of the technique to a variety of samples including air filters and biological specimens (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In this context proton excitation applied on thin samples is considered to provide the best analytical results, i.e., high sensitivity (as low as ~10"7 g/g for Ep ~2-4 MeV) coupled with broad elemental coverage (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). However, x-ray excitation via heavy ion bombardment should provide still much improved prospects for simultaneous multielement trace analysis.…”