Use of Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) In Vivo as an Alternative Technique for the Assessment of Iron Levels in Patients With Thalassemia and Hemochromatosis

Abstract

This work investigated the viability of the portable x-ray fluorescence (PXRF) technique as a means of measuring iron levels in patients suffering from thalassemia major (beta-thalassemia) and hereditary hemochromatosis (HH or Haemochromatosis) or other iron-overload conditions. Measurements were conducted at the University Hospital Blood Center and in the Laboratory of Applied Nuclear Physics at the State University of Londrina, Brazil. One thalassemia major patient and four healthy people were grouped. A PXRF system consisting of a Pu x-ray source and a SiPIN diode detector was used for measurements in vivo on the hand of each patient. The measuring system was calibrated with phantoms of aqueous solution doped with 15 to 150 ppm of iron. The duration of each measurement was 50 s. The detection limit (LLD) reached for iron was 13 ppm. The radiation dose on the skin was 10 mSv. The thalassemia patient presented 74 ± 6 ppm of iron, whereas the healthy people presented an average of 53 ± 5 ppm of iron. The results are in accord with the literature, which shows iron levels in the skin to be between 15 - 60 ppm for healthy people and between 70 - 150 ppm for thalassemia major patients. This work concluded that it is viable to apply the XRF methodology to follow thalassemia major and HH patients.

Feasibility of a 109Cd-based portable XRF device for measuring skin iron concentration in anaemic and β−Thalassaemic patients

“…Previously, other authors have demonstrated the potential of devices to measure iron levels in vivo by XRF. However, high detection limits meant their research could only focus on assessment in the range from normal to iron overload [22,23]. This work aims to improve the detection limit and provide a faster measurement with a portable device that would measure the iron levels over the entire clinical range from iron deficit anaemia to iron overload.…”

Optimization of a primary X‐ray filter for X‐ray fluorescence analysis of uranium and plutonium

“…This device is useful in situations where sampling is not allowed, such as in this study. Due to these advantages, XRF analysis has been applied to human tissue . In addition, the equation below indicates that XRF analysis is effective for long half‐life radionuclides: where N is the number of atoms; T 1/2 is the half‐life (s); and A is the radioactivity of the radionuclide (Bq).…”

“…Due to these advantages, XRF analysis has been applied to human tissue. [3][4][5] In addition, the equation below indicates that XRF analysis is effective for long half-life radionuclides:…”

A Library of Potential Nanoparticle Contrast Agents for X-Ray Fluorescence Tomography Bioimaging

“…This methodology was first used in medicine for elemental analysis in animal bones and a variety of biological tissues [15–17]. In recent years, XRF has been adopted to in vivo studies for quantification of lead [18], iron [19], and iodine [20]. In the last decade, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) tomography was developed as an imaging technique based on XRF quantitative analysis using monochromatic synchrotron X-rays for elemental analysis of small samples [21–23].…”