URGENT: radioisotopes in medicine: benefits and problems (1 Viewer)

[jordie4]

an assessment question on radioisotopes in medicine and to discuss the benefits and problems, any help would be really really appreciated, my last chance to get off to a good start in atleast one subject..

=]

 

[powerdrive]

http://members.optusnet.com.au/badtz_style/HSC stuff/Uses of radioisotopes.pdf

Technetium-99m in medicine:
Benefits:
Ÿ Short half-life of 6 hours means that radioisotope decays very quickly and causes very little damage
to the patient
Ÿ Low energy emission level is just enough for gamma cameras to detect, yet cause very little
damage to the patient
Ÿ Different forms of technetium-99m means that it will travel to different organs in the body, thus
allowing for specific diagnostics
Ÿ No side effects on patient
Problems:
Ÿ Requires nuclear reactor for production
Ÿ Requires technetium-99m generator for production

I have a couple of good chem summaries. If u want i'll PM u the links to them

 

[jordie4]

thank you alot, yes if you could pm then i would greatly appreciate them.. =] but thanks a bunch, gah hopefully ill do well in this assessment task..

love and smiles
jordie =]

 

[danz90]

For Tc-99m you could also mention the fact that it has multiple oxidation states, meaning it can attach to a variety of organic molecules in the body.

 

[WantToDoBetter]

For Tc-99m you could also mention the fact that it has multiple oxidation states, meaning it can attach to a variety of organic molecules in the body.

The more free radicals (or ions) in your body the worse it is for you, most common example under cooked red meat. I can't see how varying oxidation states could help the patient to much, although if the organic molecules of the diseased organ had markers that attracted Tc-99m it could be very useful at targeting with pin point accuracy and if you've got cancer you'd be open to nearly anything...
Good point though, i didn't know that and i've finished chem and wrote about Tc-99m!
Cheers.