Elemental concentration in renal stones by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Renal stone formation inside the kidney is one of the major causes of renal failure all over the world. To create preventative measures, it is crucial to examine renal stone's composition and identify the minerals that are responsible for their pathogenesis. Various concerns regarding the pathophysiology of renal stones remain unresolved and have been put forward. However, till date, the complete information is still unclear. In recent years, spectroscopic studies have gained much attention in identifying the chemical compositions that lead to the formation and growth of renal stones. This work employed wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to study renal stones. WDXRF results of renal stone samples give the presence of numerous heavy and trace elements. Different elemental constituents like zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), strontium (Sr), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), palladium (Pd), bromine (Br), ruthenium (Ru), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As) were detected and quantified in the renal stones. Vibrational spectroscopic studies were carried out to know the chemical compositions of renal stones such as calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), uric acid (UA), and carbonate apatite (CA). Quantitative results of WDXRF have been compared with the results from atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) of these stone samples. The available clinical details of the patients were correlated with the spectroscopic results obtained using WDXRF and FTIR spectroscopy.