Neutron activation analysis of urinary calculi

Urinary calculi resulting from disorders in the urinary system are mostly composed of uric acid, urates, calcium oxalate, alkaline earth phosphates (Ca and Mg), triple phosphate (magnesium ammonium phosphate), calcium carbonate, cystine, xanthine, and traces of proteins. The determination of these macro- constituents has been carried out by different analytical procedures. No attempts however, have been reported regarding the determination of trace elements in urinary stones, apart from that of Herring et al., who investigated the consumption of strontium by urolithiasis patients. The present work is a non- destructive neutron activation analysis of urinary calculi, to search the variation in concentration of certain trace elements with the chemical composition of the calculus.