Electricity in Nuclear Medicine
What is your area of research? My area of research is nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that involves the application of radioactive substances which can help determine the severity of a disease or how to treat them. The radioactive material is called a radiotracer and these are injected into the bloodstream, swallowed, or inhaled. This can indicate where the molecular activity in the body generally occurs so that doctors can identify diseases in their earliest stages before they worsen. These can be diseases such as cancers, heart diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, etc. I chose this topic because I’ve always been interested in this medical specialty and I thought it would be interesting if I learned the science behind how it works. |
What is the science behind nuclear medicine? The nuclear reactions that occur can be used to produce energy. Something that is called nuclear decay happens. Nuclear decay (radioactivity) is when the nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting radiation. That energy is later harnessed and used for multiple purposes. This energy that is released as heat can then be used to make steam. That steam is can be used to drive turbines which then can be produced into electricity. The radiotracers that are injected into peoples’ blood are made up of carrier molecules that are stuck together tightly to a radioactive atom. The carrier molecules that the doctors decide to use can depend on the purpose of the scan. For example, if a doctor wants to figure out where the intestinal bleeding in a body is active they can add radioactive blood cells to a sample of red blood cells that was taken from the patient. Then they inject the blood back in and they see where there is any accumulation of radioactivity. That can indicate where the intestinal bleeding is coming from. |