ipl-logo

The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Medicine

1043 Words5 Pages

Nuclear power is used all around the world for agriculture, consumer products, machinery and more. A large industry that uses nuclear power is nuclear medicine which is the use of small amounts of radiation to image, diagnose, and treat many harmful diseases. There have been arguments made about how the nuclear power is being used to create weapons but the medical advancements outweigh the negatives. Most people truly don’t understand how nuclear medicine works which causes the arguments for and against the use of it. Radiotracers, otherwise known as radiopharmaceuticals, are used to diagnose many patients around the world. Though there are examples of nuclear weapons and radiation, this type of medicine has been used to help save many people. …show more content…

A large part of nuclear medicine is the diagnosis process. Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive compounds which are used for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. They are more commonly known as radiotracers. These radioactive compounds are either injected into the bloodstream, inhaled in gaseous form, or swallowed. They mainly give off energy in the form of gamma rays which are emitted from within the body. The gamma rays emitted are then detected by a special camera and computer combination to create images of the body. This process finds unique information about the body being diagnosed which normally cannot be found using other medical procedures. This can also identify a disease in its earliest stages. Another important part of nuclear medicine is the therapeutic side. An example of that would be when radioactive iodine (I-131) is introduced to the body to treat problems like an overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer. Nuclear medicine uses information from physiological process in the body to create images. This means that there are areas called “hot spots” which show that there is a high level of chemical or metabolic activity. The opposites are “cold spots” which indicate less chemical or metabolic activity. Nuclear medicine can look very complicated but overall, it’s just the use of small amounts of radioactive materials being introduced to the body to diagnose and treat

Show More
Related

Nuclear Medicine: Nt1310 Unit 9 Final Paper

933 Words | 4 Pages

1. Write a brief introduction about the diagnostic imaging modality. Nuclear medicine is a section of medical imaging that uses radioactive medication known as radiotracers or radiopharmaceutical (Understanding nuclear medicine, 2009). Radiotracers are given to the patient through injection, swallowing or inhalation, which makes the body radioactive for a short time. The radiation is detected by a special camera, and then the image is produced.

Read More

Walter Dodd's Life And Accomplishments

520 Words | 3 Pages

The dangers of radiation exposure had been speculated on since shortly after Wilhelm Roentgen’s discovery. In 1916, the public was forced to realize the true dangers of radiation exposure because of Dr. Emilio Tiraboschi’s autopsy, which showed that exposure had damaged is internal organs and shrunk his

Read More

Non Hodgkin Lymphoma Research Paper

566 Words | 3 Pages

Positron emission tomography or pet, it is an advanced tomographic functional imaging modality. This technique depends on detecting gamma ray produced by radio tracer like 18 F "FDG" flouro deoxyglucose through pair production resulting in a pair of gamma-ray each with 511 Kev energy an 180° "add picture of annihilation event ". The uptake mechanism of FDG depends on the metabolism rate of the cell whether it was organ, muscle or a tumour cell. Using this modality technique can help us to accurately diagnose and evaluate re-evaluate patient after

Read More

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Persuasive Speech

1283 Words | 6 Pages

Nuclear fission, the process that takes place inside a nuclear power plant, actually produces 10 million times the amount of energy produced by fossil fuels. That’s more energy for less money! Nuclear energy has been used for more than just electricity as well. Its uses involve medical research equipment, industrial equipment, scientific neutron beams, and nuclear weapons. People say that nuclear energy is responsible for the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb which can wreak havoc on a large scale, like desolating a country, to a small scale, like altering DNA.

Read More

Phosphorus 32 Scientific Report

2007 Words | 9 Pages

Furthermore, as it is an ionising radiation it breaks chemical bonds of cells and the DNA of cells, resulting in

Read More

Should Australia Invest In Nuclear Energy Essay

666 Words | 3 Pages

Nuclear expositions produce radiations and the radiations can harm the cells of our body which can lead to a severe sickness or even kill us humans. Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves which cause ionization. Radiation sickness is caused by exposure to a high dose of radiation. When these particles come into contact with organic material, they will damage them, causing burns and cancer. Exposure to radiation makes our bodies produce fewer blood clotting agents, called blood platelets, increasing our risk of internal bleeding.

Read More

Different Elements Involved In Radioactive Decay Of Atoms

913 Words | 4 Pages

Radiation therapy is used to treat many cancers, and in many medical tests like X-rays. It is also used in smoke detectors that can save lives. There are three main types of radioactive decay: alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ). When an element decays, the main element's nucleus changes and turns into a different form of the element altogether. This is possible because during radioactive decay the number of protons in the nucleus can change.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Medicine

425 Words | 2 Pages

About one third of hospitals today use nuclear medicine to treat their patients. Nuclear technology uses radiation to improve the

Read More

Alzheimer's Strengths And Weaknesses

1476 Words | 6 Pages

PET scans produce images of inside the body which are 3D and enriched with detail. The scans direct our attention to the abnormal areas and allow us to see which parts of the body are working well and which parts aren’t. This is particularly useful as it can help doctors diagnose people with Alzheimer`s. The PET scanners work from radiation which is emitted from the substance radiotracer. The most typical radiotracer which is used is called flurodeoxyglucose, which isn’t that much of a shock to the body as it treats it like a natural glucose.

Read More

Iodine-131 Research Paper

683 Words | 3 Pages

This treatment is called radioactive iodine treatment, an internal radiotherapy. This operation uses the radioisotope Iodine-131 which circulates throughout the body in the bloodstream. The thyroid cancer cells gather the iodine as the thyroid gland naturally collects iodine within the body. The radiation in Iodine-131 then annihilates the cancer cells in the body. This type of treatment is only able to target certain types of thyroid cancer, including follicular and papillary thyroid cancer.

Read More

Radiology Research Paper

583 Words | 3 Pages

"Radiology is a medical specialty that uses imaging to diagnose and treat diseases seen within the body. Radiologists use many imaging techniques including: X-ray radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography, nuclear medicine including positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging to diagnose and treat diseases. " Some of the experiments they do include testing X-ray dark-field radiography on a living organism for the first time. They test the organism for lung disease.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Medicine

584 Words | 3 Pages

Many things come to mind when you hear the word “nuclear”; like destructive, dangerous, and/or powerful. Yet it’s probably uncommon for people to link the word ‘nuclear’ with ‘medicine’. In my essay i will talk about how nuclear medicine works, the benefits vs. risks, and some of the common uses. First off I’ll say that nuclear medicine is defined as the branch of medicine that deals with radioactive substances in research, diagnosis, and treatment. Nuclear medicine is actually a really simple procedure that produces produces pictures by scanning.

Read More

Donut Day Research Paper

1003 Words | 5 Pages

In honor of National Donut Day, of course we 're gonna talk about food here in The Lab... The final day before a big running race are always filled with nervous anticipation, especially if it’s your first time running a long-distance half-marathon, marathon or ultramarthon race. Over time, as you run and race more, you get used to it, and the pre-race nerves are replaced with pre-race hyperactivity, excitement, heavy social media use and lots of selfie taking #_______ (fill in race name). Otherwise, maybe you’re too hard on yourself and you should quit wearing a watch like we did? Heh.

Read More

Nuclear Energy: The Disadvantages Of Solar Energy

1006 Words | 5 Pages

The first section is about possible applications of nuclear power, the second is about nuclear power in the wrong hands, the third gives solutions offered to solve the problem, and the part is our point of view on this matter. Humans ' interest in nuclear power leads to engaging this power in a lot of fields. It was used to provide heat because splitting reaction produces heat naturally. In addition, nuclear power can help us produce electricity, which is required in different fields all around the world. Moreover, It is used to diagnose diseases in the hospitals by using its radioactivity.

Read More

MRI Vs X-Ray Scan Essay

663 Words | 3 Pages

Diagnostic imaging techniques such as MRI and X-ray scans are both use in medical/clinical settings to help doctors with their diagnosis of a patient 's body. By using these techniques, a more accurate diagnosis of a potential or present injury/ illness of a person can be understood and can be visually determined. With that being said one major difference in the way that the two techniques obtain their images is the use of radiation. In an X-ray scan the use of gamma radiation helps with being able to obtain an image of an internal structure of the body. Whilst an MRI scan will use magnetic radiation to achieve the same goal.

Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Medicine

Related Topics

Open Document