Determination of Potassium and Iron Concentrations in Whole Blood by Proton-Excited X-Ray Analysis

Abstract

When the atoms in a sample are bombarded by a beam of charged particles some of the energy carried by these particles is transferred to the atoms. In this way, the bound electrons in the atoms can be excited or ionized from the energy shells or orbitals in the atom. Vi hen an inner-shell electron vacancy is created in this manner another electron of higher energy quickly fills the vacancy. The energy difference of the two electron energy levels can be released in the form of an X-ray. Owing to the uniqueness of the energy levels of each element, X-rays provide a means of "fingerprinting" the elements in a sample. In this respect each element has its own set of characteristic X-rays which can be used for elemental identification. By measuring the energies of the characteristic X-rays from a sample of several elements, it is easy to do a qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis only involves the identification of elements in a sample, but not the quantity of these elements in a sample.