Position sensitive investigation of the lithium concentration in the human brain

我们计划进一步开发和应用一种新的超灵敏检测人体组织中痕量锂的方法，以更深入地了解锂的代谢及其对人类精神疾病的影响。碳酸锂盐在躁狂抑郁症的治疗中已经成为越来越重要的物质，锂已经被使用了几十年，因为它在情绪周期的平衡中非常有效。尽管如此，目前还没有关于它如何在人脑中发挥作用的一致的详细描述。在刚刚完成的毕业论文框架内，我们开发了一种基于6Li(n,α)t反应的人体组织样品中锂痕量位置敏感检测的新技术。在FRM II中子源的一个非常紧凑的装置中，使用检测器同时检测α和t，我们证明了在未处理的有机样品中位置敏感（Δx < 200 μm）锂检测的显著性水平为3 ppb。在提议的项目中，我们计划改进现有的设置，使灵敏度提高30倍，同时将测量时间从几个小时减少到几分钟。这将首次允许在微观（200 μm）和宏观（不同功能区）尺度上收集人类大脑中锂分布的高分辨率地图。所有的测量都将在<s:1>科学与医学研究所<e:1>和m<s:1> nchner中子探测器FRM II的密切合作下进行。

We propose a project to further develop and apply a new method for the ultra sensitive detection of lithium traces in human tissue for a deeper understanding of the lithium methabolism and its influence on the mental human diseases. Lithium carbonate salt has become an increasingly important sub-stance in the treatment of manic depressive disorders and lithium is used already for several decades as it is very efficient in the equilibration of mood cycles. Nonetheless there is currently no consistent detailed picture how it acts inside the human brain. In the framework of a just completed diploma the-sis we developed a new technique for position sensitive detection of lithium traces in human tissue samples on the basis of the 6Li(n,α)t reaction. Using detectors for the coincident detection of α and t in a very compact setup at the FRM II neutron source we demonstrated a significance level of 3 ppb for position sensitive (Δx < 200 μm) lithium detection in untreated organic samples. Within the proposed project we plan to improve the existing setup to achieve a factor of 30 higher sensitivity while reducing the measurement time from several hours to a few minutes. This will allow for first time to collect a high resolution map of lithium distributions in the human brain on a microscopic (200 μm) and a ma-croscopic (different functional areas) scale. All measurements will be performed in close collaboration with the Institut für Rechtsmedizin München and the Münchner Neutronenquelle FRM II.