Detection of trace Al in model biological tissue with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

摘要

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which is an excellent tool for trace elemental analysis,was studied as a method of detecting sub-part-per-10~(6) (ppm) concentrations of aluminum in surrogates of human tissue. Tissue was modeled using a 2percent agarose gelatin doped with an Al_(2)O_(3) nanoparticle suspension. A calibration curve created with standard reference samples of known Al concentrations was used to determine the limit of detection, which was less than 1 ppm. Rates of false negative and false positive detection results for a much more realistic sampling methodology were also studied, suggesting that LIBS could be a candidate for the real-time in vivo detection of metal contamination in human soft tissue.