Elemental Analysis in Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Fields with Micro-XRF

Special guest of this one hour webinar will be Dr. Richard L. Williams, University of Birmingham, UK. He is one of the first users utilising benchtop Micro-XRF to aid in understanding bone disease processes and to characterize biomaterial chemistry within hydrogels. The seminar will include examples of work across these fields along with tips on sample preparation. A Q&A session will round off the webinar.

Background

Micro-XRF spectrometry has become a well-established method for non-destructive elemental analysis of inhomogeneous samples. The latest benchtop Micro-XRF spectrometers provide a level of sensitivity to relatively light elements (e.g. Phosphorous and Sulfur) under ambient conditions and mapping resolution down to 10–20 µm, which is offering a huge potential in the tissue engineering and biomaterials field. The ability to map and quantify changes in elemental composition within tissue sections or biopsies with minimal sample preparation needed is aiding in uncovering the chemical mechanisms behind tissue healing and disease processes. Micro-XRF also serves as a quality control tool in the manufacture of hard/soft biomaterials.

• Researchers working in the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering
• XRF users interested in new applications of the method