X - ray Studies of Biomedical Material
Since their discovery, the use of X-rays has generally become polarised into imaging forming radiology and structure probing diffraction.
In contrast to radiology that exploits the X-rays passing through materials without interacting (thus producing an absorption image), diffraction arises from those which have been coherently scattered. These diffracted X-rays can be used to provide information concerning structures at atomic, molecular and supramolecular scales. A well-known example of the use of X-ray diffraction is the structure determination (i.e. attainment of precise atomic positions) of DNA reported by Watson & Crick in 1953.
A significant proportion of the materials characterisation activity within the Department concerns the application of diffraction investigations to human tissues. Although biological tissues are generally only semi-crystalline, their structural organisation is frequently altered at the early stages of, and during, disease progression.
One of our principal research aims is to identify and quantify such changes using X-ray diffraction and thus provide new markers for disease diagnosis and better understanding of the natural history of disease processes.
Our work has a focus upon breast cancer where we have been able to show that the scattering from collagen molecules associated with breast cancer is significantly different to that from non-cancerous tissues. This discovery could form the basis of a new diagnostic test and will help understanding of breast cancer invasion.
We have also recently invented a new type of X-ray optic that enables ‘focussing’ of the scattered radiation carrying the diagnostic information. This will provide a significantly more sensitive test.
Professor Keith Rogers
T: +44 (0)1793 785399
E: k.d.rogers@cranfield.ac.uk
