Biological applications of the NAC nuclear microprobe

The nuclear microprobe (NMP) is an established analytical instrument for th e determination of minor and trace elements, It allows measurements with a spatial resolution of the order of 1 mu m and minimum detection limits down to few ppm by weight, with excellent scanning capabilities. The nuclear mi croprobe of the National Accelerator Centre, South Africa, is being used in a wide number of applications in the biosciences. The complementarity of p roton-induced x-ray emission and backscattering spectrometry in a wide rang e of biological applications is shown. The advantages and restrictions of t rue elemental imaging are also discussed. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.