Physical Methods for Determining the Phase Composition of Gallstones

Abstract

Gallstones with a zonal morphological structure have been studied using X-ray microtomography, X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Concrements have been investigated in vitro in the dried state; phases of cholesterol, bilirubin, calcium carbonate, and sodium and potassium chlorides are found in their composition. The analysis is performed within the development of tomographic methods, which can be used in future for intravital diagnostics of cholesterol cholelithiasis. The possibility of determining the phase composition of heterogeneous gallstones, based on the analysis of linear-absorption-coefficient distributions derived from X-ray monochromatic microtomography data, is demonstrated. The results of the tomographic analysis are in agreement with the data obtained using conventional direct methods for determining the phase and elemental composition of the objects under study.