Spatial distribution of major and trace elements in bladder and kidney stones

u The spatial distribution of major and trace elements has been studied in a range of human kidney and bladder stones with well documented histories to understand their initiation and formation. The stones were cut in half using a clean diamond saw and further cleaned, to remove surface contamination, in an ultrasonic bath. The cut surfaces were analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The spatial distribution of Li, B, Mg, Al, P, Ca, Cr, Mn, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ba and Pb has been determined across the width of each stone.