FEASIBILITY OF MEASURING IRON IN VIVO USING FAST 14 MEV NEUTRONS.
In this short report, I reassess the feasibility of measuring iron in vivo in the liver and heart of thalassemia patients undergoing chelation therapy. Despite the multiplicity of analytical methods for analyzing iron, only two, magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic susceptibility, are suitable for in vivo applications, and these are limited to the liver because of the heart's beat. Previously, a nuclear method, gamma-resonance scattering, offered a quantitative measure of iron in these organs; however, it was abandoned because it necessitated a nuclear reactor to produce the radioactive source. I reviewed and reassessed the status of two alternative nuclear methods, based on iron spectroscopy of gamma rays induced by fast neutron inelastic scattering and delayed activation in iron. Both are quantitative methods with high specificity for iron and adequate penetrating power to measure it in organs sited deep within the human body. My experiments demonstrated that both modalities met the stated qualitative objectives to measure iron. However, neutron dosimetry revealed that the intensity of the neutron radiation field was too weak to reliably assess the minimum detection limits, and to allow quantitative extrapolations to measurements in people. A review of the literature, included in this report, showed that these findings agree qualitatively with the published results, although the doses reported were about three orders-of-magnitude higher than those I used. Reviewing the limitations of the present work, steps were outlined for overcoming some of the shortcomings. Due to a dearth of valid quantitative alternatives for determining iron in vivo, I conclude that nuclear methods remain the only viable option. However, from the lessons learned, further systematic work is required before embarking on clinical studies.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE/SC (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 15016285
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-73980-2005; R&D Project: EE-536-EEBA; KP1202020; TRN: US0502164
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2005
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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