MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GALLBLADDER STONES USING DIFFERENT SPECTROMETRIC TECHNIQUES

Gallstones (gravel-like substances that develop inside the human gallbladder) are one of the most painful biliary tract diseases in adults and have a high incidence. Bile is composed of water, cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, and bilurabin. Bile is generally able to dissolve cholesterol, but if there is too much cholesterol, it forms crystals that eventually form into stones. In some cases, if bilurabin levels are too high, this can also lead to stone formation. Gallstones are hard chemical particles that form and develop inside the gallbladder after a complex series of events, including bile supersaturation, nucleation and initiation, and stone growth through stone accumulation. Different gallstones have unique causes and formation mechanisms. The composition of gallstones is influenced by factors such as age, diet, geographic region, obesity, weight loss, and ethnicity. It is difficult to define a perfect gallstone classification system; however, they can be broadly grouped according to their primary chemical composition. Key factors involved in the etiopathogenesis of gallstone disease can be determined by chemical, structural, and elemental compositional analyses. Ultrastructure and trace element identification of gallstones can be achieved by applying various complementary analytical techniques, both microscopic and spectroscopic. Biochemical analyses can be performed using high-sensitivity techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).