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What are Medical Isotopes Used For?

How Radioactive Particles are Used in Nuclear Medicine

Sep 15, 2009 Noreen Kassem

Nuclear medicine includes technology for rapid diagnosis and targeted treatment of cancers. When there is a shortage of isotopes, patients lose advanced medical care.

Nuclear reactors are commonly linked to the manufacturing of nuclear energy and deadly weaponry. Nuclear equipment with names such as 'Cyclotron' bring science fiction to mind, while the use of radioactive depleted uranium in weapons is a well-known and controversial issue.

However, nuclear reactors like the Chalk River Nuclear Reactor in Ontario, Canada are used to produce radioactive isotopes for advanced medical diagnoses and imaging and for cutting-edge cancer treatments. When these reactors malfunction or cannot keep up with the demand for medical isotopes, many valuable medical applications cannot take place efficiently or not at all.

What is an Isotope?

Isotopes are made by removing particles called neutrons from the nucleus or center of an atom. The imbalance in particles in the atom makes it unstable causing nuclear decay to occur. The atoms then turn into streams of radioactive particles, which are used in nuclear medicine. This may sound like rocket science but nuclear physics is a very complex and highly expensive field.

Unlike atoms, most isotopes do not last very long and their rate of decay is called its half-life, the time it takes for half of the particles to break down. This is beneficial for medical use, because how long the radioactive particles remains in the body can be determined based on calculations.

However it also means that radioactive particles must be used quickly after they are formed and can’t be stored easily. Hence isotopes must be manufactured consistently and in enough quantity so that a fresh supply is available when needed.

There are many kinds of isotopes with varying half-life spans and uses and many with uses that have not yet been discovered.

How are Isotopes Used in Medicine?

In medicine the use of radioactive isotopes or radioistopes is called nuclear medicine and doctors who treat cancer with this technology are called radiation oncologists.

Isotopes with low radiation are used in safe imaging scans and for treatment of certain diseases. New technologies allow isotopes to be focused directly on the area of treatment without damaging other cells of the body.

In nuclear medicine, radioactive isotopes that have an attraction or affinity to specific body cells are used to mark or map that area or to treat it. For example, certain radioactive isotopes cling to cells in the thyroid and give off energy, much like a signaling beacon, which allows an endocrinologist to visually diagnose exactly what area of the gland is functioning properly.

Medical Isotopes in Diagnosis and Medical Imaging

When radioactive isotopes are introduced to the body, they give off an energy or radiation that can be tracked by imaging equipment. This allows doctors to more efficiently pinpoint exactly where the diseased tissue is. Image scanning using radioactive isotopes is more finely detailed and more accurate than MRI scans, CT scans and X-rays. This allows doctors to make faster and more effective diagnoses and treatment plans for disease in the body.

Radioactive Isotopes in Cancer Treatment

Medical isotopes can be delivered to cancer cells in the body and eliminate them by giving off radioactive energy, without damaging healthy cells. Brachytherapy is a form of treatment for cancers that are isolated to one area of the body, such as the prostate, liver, head or neck.

In some treatments medical isotopes are attached to other carrier molecules that the body uses, in order to deliver them exactly where they are needed. For example if a radioactive isotope is attached to phosphonate which is used by the body to build bone matrix, it will be naturally absorbed by the bone and can be effectively used to treat cancers of the bone.

Nuclear medicine is a valuable diagnostic and treatment technology. It has great potential in the fight against cancer and other diseases as more uses for radioactive isotopes are discovered and better delivery methods are created.

For further information, please visit Health Canada - Medical Isotopes.

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