Proposal for a new tomographic device providing information on the chemical properties of a body section.

ABSTRACT

A system to analyze the chemical properties of a region of tissue located deep inside the human body without having to access it is proposed. The method is based on a high precision detection of X-rays or gamma-rays (photons) from an external source Compton scattered from the tissue under inspection. The method provides chemical information of plane regions lying not too deep inside the body (<6 cm). The amount of radiation absorbed by the body is about the same as needed for a standard X-ray tomography. The exposure time is estimated to be shorter than 10 min.