Position sensitive investigation of the lithium concentration in the human brain

我们提出了进一步开发和应用超灵敏检测人体组织中痕量锂的新方法的项目，以加深对锂代谢及其对人类精神疾病的影响的了解。碳酸锂盐已经成为治疗躁郁症的一种越来越重要的药物，锂已经被使用了几十年，因为它在平衡情绪周期方面非常有效。尽管如此，目前还没有一致的详细图像显示它在人脑中是如何起作用的。在刚刚完成的毕业论文的框架内，我们发展了一种基于6Li(n，α)t反应的位置灵敏检测人体组织样品中痕量锂的新技术。在FRMII中子源非常紧凑的设置下，使用探测器对α和t进行符合检测，我们展示了对未经处理的有机样品中的位置灵敏(Δx&lt；200μm)锂的有效水平为3 ppb。在拟议的项目中，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。这将首次在显微镜(200μm)和宏观(不同功能区)尺度上收集人类大脑中锂的高分辨率分布图。所有测量工作都将与München的Rehtsmedizin研究所和Münchner Netrionenquelle FRM II密切合作进行。

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.