Radioisotopes are atoms with an ordinary number of protons but an irregular number of neutron,

causing the atom to become unstable and emit radiation (alpha, beta and gamma).

Nuclear medicine is the application of these radioisotopes to the human body for diagnosis and
treatment of various diseases and is used in radiotherapy. The radioisotope used in both diagnosis
and treatment is chosen based off its properties (type of radiation emitted, where it travels to in the
body and half-life).

These radioisotopes can be produced in the OPAL reactor in Lucas Heights

Diagnosis is the identification of disease and its nature through the analysis of symptoms. Normally,
radioisotopes used for diagnosis have a relatively short half-life and emit gamma radiation. Because
we are only diagnosing the patient for a disease, we wouldn’t want the radioisotope to remain the in
the body for a long time, causing damage and we want it to emit gamma radiation because of its
high penetrating power for detectors to pick up.

Technetium-99m is a radioisotope produced by the neutron bombardment of molybendum-99 and

emits gamma radiation which is what we want for diagnosis. It has a short half life of 6 hours and is
used to track abnormal blood circulations, lung function and bone abnormalities. Technetium-99 can
be administered through an intravenous injection.

Iodine-123 is produced by the proton irradiation of xenon-124. It emits gamma radiation and has a
half-life of 13 hours. We use this to diagnose thyroid diseases such as hyperthyroidism (an
overactive thyroid that produces too much hormones that upsets the metabolism) and administer it
through a pill containing the isotope.

Treatment can be described as the care given to a patient to manage and combat diseases and-or
disorders. When choosing a radioisotope for treatment, we look for beta and even alpha emission
and a slightly longer half-life than diagnosis radioisotopes. We want particle emission because that is
what kills the cancer/diseased cells and we want a slightly longer half-life so that we kill as much of
the bad cells whilst harming as little healthy cells as possible.

Cobalt-60 is produced by the neutron bombardment of cobalt-59. It emits gamma and beta radiation
with a half-life of 5.3 years. This is a very long half-life but we use cobalt-60 to treat masses of cancer
cells through IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy). This process involves harnessing the
radiation given off by cobalt-60 and firing it at the cancer mass, increasing the intensity of radiation
the deeper the cancer is. We don’t actually give the patient cobalt-60 because it would do more
harm than good.

Iodine-131 is produced by the neutron bombardment of technetium-130 and emits gamma and beta
radiation. With a half-life of 8 days, it treats diseases such as hyperthyroidism and we would provide
it to a patient in a capsule containing the radioisotope.