Application of MeV ion beam induced X-ray emission in elemental analysis of biosamples

Abstract

Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) is a powerful ion beam analysis tool which is capable of determining elemental species and concentrations in various materials in superior sensitivity and resolution. PIXE analysis of biological living materials is ever an interesting and challenging topic due to more complexity of the materials than conventional solids. In this presentation we report our home-developed 1.7 MV tandem accelerator based PIXE technique and its application in analysis of Thai local biosamples to determine the elements, concentrations and even areal distributions to serve our local research. The samples included rice grains, including ion-beam-induced mutants, human blood and cardiac muscle cells, and plant tissues. In most analyses, traditional 2 MeV proton beam was used, but in some particular cases, 1 MeV heavy carbon beam was also used. The elemental concentrations were determined from the PIXE spectra using the GUPIX software with special biomaterial concerns. In determination of the areal elemental concentration distribution, we utilized home-developed glass capillary microbeam technique to scan the sample surface area of interest. Various results of the particular biosamples are reported and discussed.