ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BONE-MINERAL BY BACKSCATTERING OF ALPHA-PARTICLES

Backscattering of 2 MeV alpha particles has been applied for the first time to studies of the inorganic substances of human bone. Bone samples taken from the femoral shaft (dense bone) and iliac crest (spongy bone) of 18 vadavers were analysed for the calcium, phosphorus oxygen content, after lyophilisation and heating for 1.5 h at 500 degrees C to remove water and organic material. The backscattering method produces a spectrum in which all the elements present in the sample except hydrogen can be seen at once. The reproducibility of the measurement was <2%. No previous studies were found in the literature of the measurement of elemental oxygen in bone samples.