Adaptive x‐ray techniques for coherent scattering from distributed amyloid targets in the brain

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundRecently, spectral small‐angle x‐ray scattering (SAXS) techniques have been proposed for interrogating deep targets including amyloid plaques and other protein aggregates in the brain, which could aid in the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.MethodA model was developed to predict the main features of SAXS profiles from targets with varying shape, size and location corresponding to brain regions of interest. An optimization approach was devised adapting the beam orientation for improving deep target characterization. We calculate a figure of merit based on relative scattering intensity, scattering vector smearing , and path length.ResultIncreasing target size introduced additional signal smearing due to location uncertainty. Beam incidence angle and target shape affected the scattering profile by altering the path length or effective target size. For temporal and frontal lobe targets, beam effectiveness varied by up to 2 orders of magnitude.ConclusionBeam orientation optimization for coherent x‐ray scattering could allow a clinical implementation to target regions of interest while minimizing the radiation does to other radiosensitive areas of the head.