Nanobeam X-ray fluorescence and diffraction computed tomography on human bone with a resolution better than 120 nm

Jonas Palle; Nina Kølln Wittig; Adam Kubec; Sven Niese; Martin Rosenthal; Manfred Burghammer; Tilman A Grünewald; Henrik Birkedal

doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107631

Nanobeam X-ray fluorescence and diffraction computed tomography on human bone with a resolution better than 120 nm

J Struct Biol. 2020 Dec 1;212(3):107631. doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107631. Epub 2020 Sep 25.

Authors

Jonas Palle¹, Nina Kølln Wittig², Adam Kubec³, Sven Niese⁴, Martin Rosenthal⁵, Manfred Burghammer⁶, Tilman A Grünewald⁷, Henrik Birkedal⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, 14 Gustav Wieds Vej, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: jonaspalle@inano.au.dk.
² Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, 14 Gustav Wieds Vej, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: nkw@inano.au.dk.
³ Fraunhofer IWS, EUV and X-ray Optics, Winterbergstr. 28, 01277 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: adam.kubec@psi.ch.
⁴ AXO DRESDEN GmbH, Gasanstaltstr. 8b, 01237 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: sven.niese@axo-dresden.de.
⁵ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Avenue des Martyrs 71, 38000 Grenoble, France. Electronic address: martin.rosenthal@esrf.fr.
⁶ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Avenue des Martyrs 71, 38000 Grenoble, France. Electronic address: burgham@esrf.fr.
⁷ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Avenue des Martyrs 71, 38000 Grenoble, France. Electronic address: tilman.grunewald@fresnel.fr.
⁸ Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, 14 Gustav Wieds Vej, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: hbirkedal@chem.au.dk.

PMID: 32980520
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107631

Abstract

Studying nanostructured hierarchical materials such as the biomineralized bone is challenging due to their complex 3D structures that call for high spatial resolution. One route to study such materials is X-ray powder diffraction computed tomography (XRD-CT) that reveals the 3D distribution of crystalline phases and X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XRF-CT) that provides element distributions. However, the spatial resolution of XRD-CT has thus far been limited. Here we demonstrate better than 120 nm 3D resolution on human bone in XRD-CT and XRF-CT measured simultaneously using X-ray nanobeams. The results pave the way for nanoscale 3D characterization of nanocrystalline composites like bone at unprecedented detail.

Keywords: Bone; Multilayer laue lenses; Tomography; X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XRF-CT); X-ray nanobeams; X-ray powder diffraction computed tomography (XRD-CT).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bone and Bones / physiology*
Fluorescence
Humans
Nanostructures / chemistry*
Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*
X-Ray Diffraction / methods*
X-Rays