%0 Journal Article
	%A Phannee Saengkaew and  Weerasak Ussawawongaraya and  Sasiphan Khaweerat and  Supagorn Rugmai and  Sirisart Ouajai and  Jiraporn Luengviriya and  Sakuntam Sanorpim and  Manop Tirarattanasompot and  Somboon Rhianphumikarakit
	%D 2011
	%J International Journal of Biomedical and Biological Engineering
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 59, 2011
	%T A Preliminary X-Ray Study on Human-Hair Microstructures for a Health-State Indicator
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/15702
	%V 59
	%X We present a preliminary x-ray study on human-hair
microstructures for a health-state indicator, in particular a cancer
case. As an uncomplicated and low-cost method of x-ray technique,
the human-hair microstructure was analyzed by wide-angle x-ray
diffractions (XRD) and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). The
XRD measurements exhibited the simply reflections at the d-spacing
of 28 Å, 9.4 Å and 4.4 Å representing to the periodic distance of the
protein matrix of the human-hair macrofibrous and the diameter and
the repeated spacing of the polypeptide alpha helixes of the
photofibrils of the human-hair microfibrous, respectively. When
compared to the normal cases, the unhealthy cases including to the
breast- and ovarian-cancer cases obtained higher normalized ratios of
the x-ray diffracting peaks of 9.4 Å and 4.4 Å. This likely resulted
from the varied distributions of microstructures by a molecular
alteration. As an elemental analysis by x-ray fluorescence (XRF), the
normalized quantitative ratios of zinc(Zn)/calcium(Ca) and
iron(Fe)/calcium(Ca) were determined. Analogously, both Zn/Ca and
Fe/Ca ratios of the unhealthy cases were obtained higher than both of
the normal cases were. Combining the structural analysis by XRD
measurements and the elemental analysis by XRF measurements
exhibited that the modified fibrous microstructures of hair samples
were in relation to their altered elemental compositions. Therefore,
these microstructural and elemental analyses of hair samples will be
benefit to associate with a diagnosis of cancer and genetic diseases.
This functional method would lower a risk of such diseases by the
early diagnosis. However, the high-intensity x-ray source, the highresolution
x-ray detector, and more hair samples are necessarily
desired to develop this x-ray technique and the efficiency would be
enhanced by including the skin and fingernail samples with the
human-hair analysis.
	%P 630 - 634