Should Doctors Use Tc-99m In High Demand?
Tc-99m
Tc-99m is mostly a manmade substance. However, Tc-99m can be found in a few places throughout the environment. The few places that Tc-99m can be found is after detonation of nuclear weapon, airborne emissions from a nuclear reactor, airborne emissions from a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and the storage of radioactive waste in a facility, or a facility that treats radioactive waste. Since there are few places that produce Tc-99m there is a high need for the substance and is therefore manmade to keep up quantity. What is Tc-99m used for and why is it in high demand? Tc-99m is used for research purposes. It can be used for medical reasons as well. Tc-99m can evaluate what kind of condition that the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, spleen, and bones are in. It can also evaluate blood flow throughout the body. It’s in high demand because it is used in over 80% of all nuclear scans and there’s not always enough supplies.
Tc-99m is a very useful radionuclide in gamma imaging. The reason doctors’ use Tc-99m is because when using a gamma camera the Tc-99m emits gamma rays which will show up in the scans from the gamma camera. This allows the doctors to see how blood etc. flows through the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, and spleen. …show more content…
Since Tc-99m is radioactive is can cause cancer.
The lifespan of Tc-99m is 6 hours. The person is injected will remain ‘radioactive’ for the whole six hours. Anyone who is around someone that is injected with Tc-99m is also being exposed to the radiological emissions. The exposure of the radioactive can be dangerous. The six hours that the Tc-99m is in the body is not too long, the Tc-99m will not cause too much damage because of the short period of time that it is in the body. The six hours is also just enough time for the doctors to do what they need to do by running scans and use the gamma camera. Then the time it takes to recover. By the time the patient is ready to leave they are no longer
‘radioactive’. The highest use is myocardial perfusion. Myocardial perfusion scan is used to evaluate how the blood is flowing to the heart muscles. In order to evaluate the blood flow the patient has to do a stress test. A stress test means the patient has to exercise or use medication in order to determine what areas of the heart that has decreased blood flow. This is done by injected the Tc-99m in the vein of either the arm or the hand. After the injection of the Tc-99m the patient is then ran through a gamma camera or other device.
Depending on what area the doctor needs to see there is a chart of how much the doctor needs to inject in the patient. Each area needs a different injection dose. Another factor that determines the dosage is if the doctor is running a stress test or a test where the patient needs to be relaxed with no medication.
References
Technetium 99m (Cyberphysics) http://www.cyberphysics.co.uk/topics/radioact/Tc99m.htm Technetium-99 (EPA) http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/technetium.html#use TRIUMF : Canada 's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics (TRIUMF Aids in Increasing Tc-99m Supply) http://www.triumf.ca/headlines/current-events/triumf-aids-increasing-tc-99m-supply Myocardial Perfusion Scan, Stress (Johns Hopkins Medicine, based in Baltimore, Maryland)
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/cardiovascular/myocardial_perfusion_scan_str
Tc-99m is mostly a manmade substance. However, Tc-99m can be found in a few places throughout the environment. The few places that Tc-99m can be found is after detonation of nuclear weapon, airborne emissions from a nuclear reactor, airborne emissions from a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and the storage of radioactive waste in a facility, or a facility that treats radioactive waste. Since there are few places that produce Tc-99m there is a high need for the substance and is therefore manmade to keep up quantity. What is Tc-99m used for and why is it in high demand? Tc-99m is used for research purposes. It can be used for medical reasons as well. Tc-99m can evaluate what kind of condition that the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, spleen, and bones are in. It can also evaluate blood flow throughout the body. It’s in high demand because it is used in over 80% of all nuclear scans and there’s not always enough supplies.
Tc-99m is a very useful radionuclide in gamma imaging. The reason doctors’ use Tc-99m is because when using a gamma camera the Tc-99m emits gamma rays which will show up in the scans from the gamma camera. This allows the doctors to see how blood etc. flows through the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, and spleen. …show more content…
Since Tc-99m is radioactive is can cause cancer.
The lifespan of Tc-99m is 6 hours. The person is injected will remain ‘radioactive’ for the whole six hours. Anyone who is around someone that is injected with Tc-99m is also being exposed to the radiological emissions. The exposure of the radioactive can be dangerous. The six hours that the Tc-99m is in the body is not too long, the Tc-99m will not cause too much damage because of the short period of time that it is in the body. The six hours is also just enough time for the doctors to do what they need to do by running scans and use the gamma camera. Then the time it takes to recover. By the time the patient is ready to leave they are no longer
‘radioactive’. The highest use is myocardial perfusion. Myocardial perfusion scan is used to evaluate how the blood is flowing to the heart muscles. In order to evaluate the blood flow the patient has to do a stress test. A stress test means the patient has to exercise or use medication in order to determine what areas of the heart that has decreased blood flow. This is done by injected the Tc-99m in the vein of either the arm or the hand. After the injection of the Tc-99m the patient is then ran through a gamma camera or other device.
Depending on what area the doctor needs to see there is a chart of how much the doctor needs to inject in the patient. Each area needs a different injection dose. Another factor that determines the dosage is if the doctor is running a stress test or a test where the patient needs to be relaxed with no medication.
References
Technetium 99m (Cyberphysics) http://www.cyberphysics.co.uk/topics/radioact/Tc99m.htm Technetium-99 (EPA) http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/technetium.html#use TRIUMF : Canada 's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics (TRIUMF Aids in Increasing Tc-99m Supply) http://www.triumf.ca/headlines/current-events/triumf-aids-increasing-tc-99m-supply Myocardial Perfusion Scan, Stress (Johns Hopkins Medicine, based in Baltimore, Maryland)
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/cardiovascular/myocardial_perfusion_scan_str