Multi-element imaging of urinary stones by LA-ICP-MS with a homogeneous co-precipitation CaCO-matrix calibration standard.

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) studies on trace element concentration and their spatial distribution in CaCO-matrix urinary stones are important but powerfully rely on matrix-matched external calibration. In this work, CaCO precipitate CaOx-1 which was doped with Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, and Sr was prepared by the homogeneous co-precipitation method. It had a homogeneous distribution of major (RSD of 0.46%) and trace elements (RSD of 1.83-6.92%) due to the negligible concentration difference compared with that prepared by the heterogeneous co-precipitation method. Based on this, an analytical method for quantitative determination of elemental concentration in CaCO-matrix samples was established using CaOx-1 as a calibration standard, and the accuracy of this method was assessed by calibrating the elemental concentration in another synthetic CaCO precipitate CaOx-2 with relative deviation (D) from - 11.43% (Mn) to 9.76% (Mg). Finally, a methodology for quantitative imaging of Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, and Sr in urinary stones via LA-ICP-MS was developed. From the elemental distributional maps, an annular texture can be found for Mg, Cu, Zn, and Sr, which corresponds to the annular white and brown texture in the real urinary stone. A homogeneous distribution of Fe and low concentrations of Cr and Co were found throughout the stone, while Mn was highly concentrated in the margin of the stone. All these results demonstrate that quantitative distribution patterns of Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, and Sr can be obtained by LA-ICP-MS using CaOx-1 as a calibration standard, which can provide potential evidence for urological and other medical studies.