title: Errors in determination of total body protein by in vivo neutron activation of nitrogen due to non-uniform neutron fluence inside the patient.
abstract: Total body protein can be estimated by in vivo neutron activation of nitrogen. The method is based on capture of thermal neutrons in a 14N(n,g )15N reaction. Sources of error associated with this method, such as background subtraction, variations in detection efficiency, etc, are analysed. Different neutron reactions (absorption, elastic and inelastic scattering) cause the neutron fluence to decrease inside the body. The activation profile through the body is non-uniform which causes errors in the calculation of total body nitrogen. A reduction of nitrogen by 5% in a 3 cm thick volume near the body surface would result in an error in the determination of total body nitrogen of approximately 0.3%. The error induced by changes in thickness of the subcutaneous fat has also been estimated and the results show that a 5 mm change in subcutaneous fat thickness changes the count rate from nitrogen by 5%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, University of Göteborg, Sahlgren Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tölli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alpsten