Fast elemental analysis for biochemical and clinical scientists

Trace elements (metals) are increasingly used as dietary supplements in the prevention of widespread diseases, as clinically effective adjuvant therapeutics or are a popular research area in basic and applied sciences. These rare elements confer unique reactivities to their respective enzymes.

The research of these biologically highly active substances is not always accompanied by a diligent monitoring of their concentrations and accumulated amounts within the biological samples. Established analytical methods like atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) or inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) require time-consuming sample preparation steps including digestion with hazardous acids. An even more critical issue is the limited sample amount of biological samples, especially in case of animal experiments or in paediatric medicine. A sufficient sample amount for an analysis by AAS or ICP requires a dilution, which often leads to element concentrations below the detection limits. Total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analysis offers a fast, sensitive and matrix-independent method for the simultaneous quantification of trace elements from minute amounts of sample. The most important benefits of TXRF are:

• All sample types can be analyzed without digestion. If not applied directly, a simple dilution step is sufficient.
• TXRF provides detection limits in a required range of 0.1 to 100 ppb.
• TXRF is ideal in case of extremely low sample amounts.
• TXRF spectrometer do not require external calibration. For full quantification of any sample only the addition of one standard element is required.

The TXRF spectrometer S2 PICOFOX is suitable for trace element determination in any biological matrix during clinical research or routine. The spectrometer has been used for a number of applications in this field:

• In vivo heavy metal tests of mammal tissues
• Monitoring of trace element in blood and urine
• Trace metals in cell and protein suspensions
• Control of toxic impurtieis in dietary supplements
• Crime scene investigations in Phytoforensics

If you would like to learn more please ask for a hardcopy of our lab reports or browse the documents list on the Bruker web page