Element distribution imaging in rat kidney using a 2D rapid EDXRF device. En el Capítulo: FLUORESCENCIA DE RAYOS X

FIGUEROA, RODOLFO; LOZANO, E.; BONGIOVANNI, GUILLERMINA A.

Análisis de materiales diversos por técnicas de rayos X

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP)

Lugar: Puebla; Año: 2012; p. 149 - 154

Visualization of spatial distribution of elements in biological tissue is gaining importance in many disciplines such as biology, forensic medicine, and medicine. Besides, the mapping of elements has wider application to archeology: archaeometric studies of pigments, modes of preservation, and analysis in environmental context. Single determination of elements by in vivo X-ray Florescence (XRF) has been investigated since 1968. However, acquisition time is a limitation of in vivo XRF imaging protocols, making difficult and unsafe the study of larger samples such as animal organs, works of art, etc. Improvements in relation to collimators and detectors, enabled us to develop a low cost robotic device that allows rapid and quantitative elemental mappings by EDXRF (Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence). Multiple images of distribution of elements in large specimens at concentration levels of parts per million can be obtained with a spatial resolution of up to 0.2 mm, with a spectral capture time up to 1 ms per point. For comparative purposes, images of Fe, Cu, Zn and As in renal cortex of arsenic-exposed rats were obtained by 2D High Speed EDXRF device and µXRF using Synchrotron radiation from Brazilian LNLS. The new imaging system allows XRF scanning 30 times faster than Synchrotron. These advantages among others as well as the potential applications of this system will be discussed.