This thesis investigates the use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements of skin iron
concentration as a non-invasive surrogate marker for total body iron burden. Rats were
overloaded with iron dextran via intraperitoneal injection to investigate trends in iron
accumulation in skin and organs. The skin, heart, liver, and kidney of the animals were
collected and the iron concentrations were measured using the Huber XRF system and
the polarized energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (PEDXRF) system. When measured
in the Huber XRF system, a very strong quadratic correlation was found between skin
iron concentration and liver iron concentration (R2=0.92). In the same system, skin
iron concentration had a moderately strong linear correlation with heart and kidney iron
concentration (R2=0.53 and R2=0.65, respectively). Measured in the PEDXRF system,
heart and kidney iron concentrations were again linearly correlated with skin iron
concentrations (R2=0.34 and R2=0.31, respectively). Liver iron concentration again
showed a quadratic correlation with skin iron concentration (R2=0.64). Therefore, it
was demonstrated that skin iron concentrations can act as a surrogate marker for organ
iron concentrations in rats, especially for the liver. The feasibility of using an Olympus
Innov-X Delta Professional Handheld XRF Analyzer, a commercial portable x-ray
fluorescence (PXRF) device, as a tool for in vivo skin iron analysis was investigated.
The same rat skin samples measured in the previous experiment were measured using
the PXRF device and compared with the organ iron concentrations as measured using
the Huber XRF system. The heart and kidney showed linear correlations with skin iron
concentration (R2=0.45 and R2=0.36, respectively). The liver showed the strongest
correlation with a moderately strong quadratic correlation with R2=0.74. It was
determined that using Beam 3 in the Soil mode of this device resulted in equivalent
and effective dose rates of 230±10mSv/min and 2.3±0.1mSv/min, respectively. Thus,
the PXRF device has shown promise as a potential tool for measuring in vivo skin
iron levels. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22121 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Dao, Erica |
| Contributors | Farquharson, Michael J, Medical Physics |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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