X-ray fluorescence analysis in medical sciences: a review.

Some elements have toxic effects on the human body and there is thus a need to control their levels in human organs and tissues. Moreover, it is important to increase our knowledge of relationships between observable toxic effects and element concentrations in man and his environment. Monitoring and basic occupational and environmental research rely on measurements directly in humans as well as samples from humans and the environment. This paper reviews recent advances in in vivo X-ray fluorescence methods and their applications.