Table of Contents
- 1 How has radioactivity been used in medicine?
- 2 When was radioactivity first used in medicine?
- 3 Why is radiation important in medicine?
- 4 Why do doctors use radioactive substances for medical diagnosis?
- 5 Who invented radiation treatment?
- 6 Who discovered radiation in medicine?
- 7 How do medical doctors use radioactive materials to detect and treat medical problems?
- 8 Is radiation used to preserve food?
How has radioactivity been used in medicine?
Nuclear medicine procedures help detect and treat diseases by using a small amount of radioactive material, called a radiopharmaceutical. Some radiopharmaceuticals are used with imaging equipment to detect diseases. Radiopharmaceuticals can also be placed inside the body near a cancerous tumor to shrink or destroy it.
When was radioactivity first used in medicine?
However, researchers believe the birth of this medical speciality probably occurred somewhere between 1934 when artificial radioactivity was first discovered and 1946 when radionuclides were first produced for medical use by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Where does medical radioactivity come from?
About 40 percent of this dose comes from radioactive materials that occur naturally in our bodies. The rest comes from outer space, cosmic radiation, or from radioactive materials in the ground. Another common source of radiation dose is medical x-rays.
Why is radiation important in medicine?
Radiation offers extraordinary benefits for the diagnosis of a wide range of diseases and ailments, from broken bones to heart disease. It is a mainstay for treating some types of cancer. Yet exposure to radiation can also damage DNA, the operating manual of a cell.
Why do doctors use radioactive substances for medical diagnosis?
Nuclear medicine uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person’s specific organs, or to treat disease. In most cases, the information is used by physicians to make a quick diagnosis of the patient’s illness.
What radioactive substances are used in medicine?
Four typical examples of radioactive tracers used in medicine are technetium-99 (9943Tc), thallium-201 (20181Tl), iodine-131 (13153I), and sodium-24 (2411Na). Damaged tissues in the heart, liver, and lungs absorb certain compounds of technetium-99 preferentially.
Who invented radiation treatment?
How playing with dangerous x-rays led to the discovery of radiation treatment for cancer. When the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s announced his discovery of the x-ray in December of 1895, he was lauded on the front page of just about every newspaper in the world.
Who discovered radiation in medicine?
Wilhelm Roentgen
Figure 2. Wilhelm Roentgen (the first person to discover the potential for using electromagnetic radiation to create X-ray images) (right).
How is radiation created?
Ionizing radiation is produced by unstable atoms. Unstable atoms differ from stable atoms because unstable atoms have an excess of energy or mass or both. Radiation can also be produced by high-voltage devices (e.g., x-ray machines). Unstable atoms are said to be radioactive.
How do medical doctors use radioactive materials to detect and treat medical problems?
A typical nuclear medicine imaging procedure: The radiotracers accumulate in the organ or area which will be examined. A special camera or imaging device that can read radioactive emissions is then able to take images of the area, creating pictures and molecular information that physicians can use to make a diagnosis.
Is radiation used to preserve food?
To preserve food with radiation, the item is exposed to to gamma rays (which are similar to X-rays) emitted by radioactive materials. At this level, gamma rays penetrate the food and kill bacteria and other infectious organisms by preventing the organisms from dividing and growing.