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Lasers in Medical Science
Published in: Lasers in Medical Science 5/2011

01-09-2011 | Review Article

Prospects for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for biomedical applications: a review

Authors: Vivek Kumar Singh, Awadhesh Kumar Rai

Published in: Lasers in Medical Science | Issue 5/2011

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Abstract

We review the different spectroscopic techniques including the most recent laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the characterization of materials in any phase (solid, liquid or gas) including biological materials. A brief history of the laser and its application in bioscience is presented. The development of LIBS, its working principle and its instrumentation (different parts of the experimental set up) are briefly summarized. The generation of laser-induced plasma and detection of light emitted from this plasma are also discussed. The merit and demerits of LIBS are discussed in comparison with other conventional analytical techniques. The work done using the laser in the biomedical field is also summarized. The analysis of different tissues, mineral analysis in different organs of the human body, characterization of different types of stone formed in the human body, analysis of biological aerosols using the LIBS technique are also summarized. The unique abilities of LIBS including detection of molecular species and calibration-free LIBS are compared with those of other conventional techniques including atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence.
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Metadata
Title
Prospects for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for biomedical applications: a review
Authors
Vivek Kumar Singh
Awadhesh Kumar Rai
Publication date
01-09-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Lasers in Medical Science / Issue 5/2011
Print ISSN: 0268-8921
Electronic ISSN: 1435-604X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-011-0921-2

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