RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Kidney stone analysis techniques are well-established in the field of materials characterization and provide information for the chemical composition and structure of a sample. Nanomedicine, on the other hand, is a field with an increasing rate of scientific research, a big budget and increasingly developing market. The key scientific question is if there is a possibility for the development of a nanomedicine to treat kidney stones. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: The main calculi characterization techniques such as X-ray Diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy can provide information about the composition of a kidney stone but not for its nanostructure. On the other hand, Small Angle X-ray Scattering and Nitrogen Porosimetry can show the nanostructural parameters of the calculi. The combination of the previously described parameters can be used for the development of nano-drugs for the treatment of urolithiasis, while no such nano-drugs exist yet. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we focus on the most well-known techniques for kidney stone analysis, the urolithiasis management and the search for possible nanomedicine for the treatment of kidney stone disease. We combine the results from five different analysis techniques in order to represent a three dimensional model and we propose a hypothetical nano-drug with gold nanoparticles. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Recent Advances in Bionanomaterials" Guest Editor: Dr. Marie-Louise Saboungi and Dr. Samuel D. Bader.
Asunto(s)
Descubrimiento de Drogas/métodos , Cálculos Renales/química , Cálculos Renales/terapia , Litotripsia por Láser/métodos , Nanomedicina/métodos , Nanopartículas , Nefrolitiasis/terapia , Agentes Urológicos/uso terapéutico , Humanos , Cálculos Renales/diagnóstico , Nefrolitiasis/diagnóstico , Porosidad , Dispersión del Ángulo Pequeño , Difracción de Rayos XRESUMEN
A Prompt Gamma Ray Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) system, incorporating an isotopic neutron source has been simulated using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio different collimators and a filter were placed between the neutron source and the object. The effect of the positioning of the neutron beam and the detector relative to the object has been studied. In this work the optimisation procedure is demonstrated for boron. Monte Carlo calculations were carried out to compare the performance of the proposed PGNAA system using four different neutron sources (241Am/Be, 252Cf, 241Am/B, and DT neutron generator). Among the different systems the 252Cf neutron based PGNAA system has the best performance.