SRXRF imaging of a single brain cell from a patient with Parkinson’s disease

Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SRXRF) is a potential imaging technique with regard to minimum detection limit, measuring time and being non-destructive on biological samples. These advantages are important for measuring trace elements in biological samples. In this paper, we investigated the distribution of trace elements in the cerebral neurons of the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), using SRXRF spectroscopy. The cause of PD is unknown but many researchers consider that excessive accumulation of trace metal elements (mainly iron) has strong influence on the generative process of PD. Micro beam imaging (mapping of the elements) with a beam size of 6×8 μm2, and the energy of 13.5 keV was carried out in a single neuron. The distribution of trace elements in the neurons was successfully obtained in an area of about 100×100 μm2. The same sample was histologically studied with an optical microscope.