One of the most widespread diseases in urinary system is urinary stones. It is a global health problem affect both genders since prehistoric period. Based on the present study, different types of urinary stones were studied . It is well known that, the medical. therapy does not work with some stones , which could lead to the surgical intervention.
In order to understand the urinary stone formation mechanism, knowing the composition of stones is the first step to find the right treatment. Fifty different types of urinary stones were collected from different patients at the King Abulaziz specialist hospital . In order to collect more information about the patients, a medical questionnaire was used in order to understand the relationship between the different
influence factors and the structures of urinary stones.
Investigation of the structural and composition of the urinary stones were carried out using different spectroscopic techniques namely; Energy Dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages and they are cooperative in achieving the best results.)
samples were crushed using agate mortar and pestle after being washed with distilled Most of the
water in order to have a fine powder adopted with the different spectroscopic techniques ..
Using EDXRF spectrometer, two different quantitative elemental analysis methods were investigated namely powder using Mylar foil and pressing using a suitable binder . In case of powder analysis method, the urinary stone powder can be used afterwards and it is completely nondestructive. However, the impurities found in the Mylar foil were considered and subtracted from the final quantitative analysis results. This method was found the most suitable in the present work whereas the samples can be used for further physical and chemical characterization. Using the second method, specific amount of the urinary stone sample should be mixed well with pure and suitable binder such as wax, cellulose, or urea. The binders seem to be essential additive in order to prevent caking and to get a stable disc especially when using vacuum environment. Furthermore, the binder should be from light elements to decrease the x-ray scattering as well as the background intensities. The main drawback
of this method is the pressed sample cannot be used for further characterization and the
required amount of urinary stone samples is not always available. Although the pressed
sample method was not used in the present work, optimization of the most suitable
binder was investigated. Pure and commercial four types of binder have been used for
this purpose namely; cellulose, starch, urea, and wax in order to find out the best and
low cost binder that can be used for the pressed sample method. The pure and
commercial wax show good result in most photon energy range in the EDXRF spectra.
Using powder sample method, nineteen elements were quantitatively determined but
these elements are not found in all the urinary stones samples. These elements are Ca,
Na, P, S, Mg, Cl, Zn, K, Ti, Sr, Ni, Co, Fe, Cu, Cd, Br, Pb, Se, and Mn.
Based on the X-ray Diffraction analysis, the main two type’s urinary stones
were calcium oxalate and urea. Other minor types of urinary stone were also found.
However, each type has its own composition and its own elemental composition. The
main compositions of the urinary stones were confirmed by FTIR..