The study of in vivo x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique for gadolinium (Gd) measurements in human bone

An in vivo K x-ray fluorescence system, based on ¹⁰⁹Cd source, for the detection of gadolinium has been investigated. Gd is of interest because of the extensive use of Gd-based contrast agents in MR imaging. A human simulating bone phantom set has been developed. The phantoms were doped with seven concentrations of Gd. Additional elements important for in vivo x-ray fluorescence, Na, Cl and Ca, were also included to create an overall elemental composition consistent with the Reference Man. A new 5 GBq ¹⁰⁹Cd source was purchased to improve the source activity in comparison to the previous study (0.17 GBq). The previously published minimum detection limit (MDL) for Gd phantom measurements using KXRF system was 3.3 ppm. In this study the minimum detection limit for bare bone phantoms was found to reduce the MDL to 0.8, a factor of 4.1. The previous published data used only three layers of plastic as soft tissue equivalent materials and found the MDL of 4-4.8 ppm. In this study we have used the plastic with more realistic thicknesses to simulate a soft tissue at tibia. The detection limits for phantoms with Lucite as a tissue equivalent, using a new source, was determined to be 1.81 to 3.47 ppm (μg Gd per gram phantom). Our next study would be testing an in vivo K x-ray fluorescence system, based on ¹⁰⁹Cd source on human volunteers who went through MR imaging and were injected by Gd.