Radiotracers In Nuclear Medicine

Technetium-99m is a widely used radioactive tracer isotope in Nuclear Medicine. Its gamma ray energy of about 140 keV is convenient for detection. The fact that both its physical half-life and its biological half-life are very short leads to very fast clearing from the body after an imaging process. A further advantage is that the gamma is a single energy, not accompanied by beta emission, and that permits more precise alignment of imaging detectors.

Issue: In medicine, radioisotopes are bonded with chemical compounds to form radioactive tracers, which are then injected into the patient’s bloodstream. The radiation emitted by the tracers allows doctors to obtain images of organ systems, facilitating the early and accurate diagnosis of disease. However, to avoid radio- active contamination, care must be taken in the storage, use, and disposal of this material.

Seaborg began working with one of the pioneers of nuclear medicine, Joe Hamilton, while attending Berkley. Hamilton needed a radioisotope that had a half-life long enough to be useful in dealing with in the human body; a half-life that was about a week. Seaborg and his long-time friend and partner, Jack Livingwood, used targets of tellurium and bombarded it with deuterons and some with neutrons to reveal iodine-131, which had a half-life of eight days. This element held major sentimental value to Seaborg due to its aid in his mother’s cure of hyperthyroidism. Iodine-131 is a major component still today in cancer treatment, particularly thyroid cancer. Seaborg and Livingwood also discovered cobalt-60, which is also a critical medical isotope. Cobalt-60 emits gamma radiation which in turn focuses directly on cancer cells to destroy it. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their cancers treated by cobalt-60 irradiation, and it is also used to sterilize medical products and equipment” (36). Shortly

Nuclear medicine technology has advantages and disadvantages just as any other career. Using nuclear medicine technology could diagnose a lot of harmful diseases. Also, it is more effective treatment for most categories of cancerous diseases and conditions in some medical institutions. This type of medicine technology helps physicians perform their responsibility of patients’ therapy easily; moreover, when a serious disease developed in the patient’s body, the x-rays of this medicine technology could scan the most sensitive part of the patient’s body.

The nuclear medicine technologist use radionuclides to diagnose and treat diseases. Radionuclides means unstable atoms that release radiation spontaneously and they are purified and compounded to form radiopharmaceuticals that prepare and administer by nuclear medicine technologist. These technologists are particularly specialized health care professional. The radioactive drugs appear higher or lower concentration in the abnormal area of the patient’s body than in the normal area.

Doctors had been using radiation to destroy cancerous cells since the unfolding of X-rays and radium in the 1890s, but both techniques had their own issues. X-ray machines were complicated to make use of, and radium implanted near tumors. In addition, X-rays weren’t strong enough to be entirely effective, and as for both of them, they were quite expensive.

Nuclear energy is used today for energy supply and about 15% of the world’s energy comes from nuclear power plants some forms of medicine such as nuclear medicine rely

Nuclear medicine is a certain branch of medicine that uses a specific type of radiation to give out important information about how a person's specific organs work. As well as, showing the organ and treating a disease that is inside of it. When information gets viewed by special physicians, they make sure to get a quick, accurate diagnosis of what the patient's illness is right away. The main organs that can be easily imaged by the nuclear medicine is the thyroid, bones, heart, liver, lungs, and the gallbladder. There are many hospitals that use the radiation; called radioisotope, in medicines. The most common one is named Technetium-99, which is used in medical diagnostic procedures annually. Nuclear medicine was created in the 1950s by physicians

All kinds of ionizing radiation that used in health care centers in medical diagnosis and therapy processes, as well the radiation used in diagnostic radiology is the field of medicine that uses radiation to make an imaging exams and procedures to diagnose a patient. In another hand it’s used to treatment for many kind of disease especially to cure from cancer. In any form of medical care, diagnostic radiology plays a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of disease or injury. The exams often use radiation, at many levels that have been determined and adjusted to be safe as possible, to create detailed anatomical images. (Bekas M, et al, 2016)

Medicine has developed into an astonishing work of pure art over the years. From an old village healer crushing the simplest herbs in ancient times, to large machines administering chemical formulas to patients today. The newest addition to this artwork is Nuclear Medicine. Nuclear Medicine is a medicine that deals with the use of radioactive substances entering the body to attach/ attack cells. Whether it be to diagnose, test, or to treat, this nuclear technology has driven the medical and chemistry world into the future.

“Nuclear medicine is a highly specialized field of radiology. It requires the oral or intravenous administration of radiopharmaceuticals, radioactive isotopes combined with organ specific medications, in order to perform

The use of radioactive elements in medicine is still growing to this day. Many oncologists use it to treat their patients who have cancer. Many cancer patients use this option. They use the radiation to kill off cancer cells. X-ray technicians or radiologists will also use it to administer x-rays to people who may have a broken bone, or need an MRI. The patient is injected with a radioactive material that helps the doctor be able to see inside the body better, whether it be with pictures or ultrasound. Radioactive material is defined as “material that contains radioactivity and thus emits ionizing radiation. It may be material that contains natural radioactivity from the environment or a material that may have been made radioactive.” (The Healthy Physics Society). This happens when someone needs a colonoscopy. They have to drink or are injected with this liquid that helps their organs and all other masses in the body be seen better by the radioactive materials.

Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, protons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors (National Cancer Institute, 2016). One of the main purposes of radiation is to preserve the normal cells while killing the cancer cells. To fully understand the importance of radiation therapy it is imperative to understand its discovery. The discovery of radioactivity is attributed to Henri Becquerel in Paris. His discovery was purely accidental, as most discoveries are, while attempting an experiment that utilized the sun, uranium, and photographic plates. On 26-27 February 1896, Henri Becquerel took the uranium and photographic plates wrapped in black paper to initiate his experiment by placing them in the path of sun light, but to his misfortune it was overcast both days. Thinking that his experiment was a failure, Becquerel decided to develop the photographic plates and found that uranium did not need the sun’s rays to emit radiation due to its own radioactive properties, thus discovering radioactivity. The actual term “radioactivity” was coined by Marie Curie, a Polish born physicist, who along with her husband had been studying the phenomenon that was discovered by Becquerel (Lawrence Berkely National Lab, 2000).

The medical field also benefits from nuclear energy. Nuclear medicine is a field of medicine in which radioactive materials are used to diagnose and treat medical disorders

During the last decade, major progress has been made in the treatment of disease with radioisotopes. Treatments involving the use of medical isotopes are gaining momentum in the race against many types of cancer. FDA approved and highly promising therapies are doubling every 3 to 4 years. Some researchers predict that over 80% of cancer types should be treatable with