Medical applications radiation therapy

Proton therapy equipment is now commercially available from several companies. This is a sign that protons have gained their place in the radiation therapy arsenal. Indeed, the number of proton therapy facilities increases worldwide, both the hospital-based, therapy-dedicated facilities and the facilities in physics laboratories adapted for medical applications. 

Studying these isotopes provides fertile ground for physicists and chemists to gain a better understanding of the properties and behavior of nuclei. This field of research also has important applications. For example, radioisotopes—radioactive isotopes—that emit certain particles are critical in some medical treatments such as radiation therapy, which is used to kill cancer cells, and positron emission tomography (PET), which is extremely useful in imaging parts of the body. 

The medical applications of nuclear technology range from in vitro and in vivo injections for diagnostic tests to cobalt radiation for cancer therapy. A new medical specialty was created, a family of compact cyclotrons was developed to provide short-lived nuclides, and a sizable industry evolved to produce technetium. Until the nuclear industry was created, technetium had been missing from the chart of chemical elements because the half-life of the most stable member was too short, 21,000 years. Technetium and several other nuclides of importance here are discussed elsewhere in the chapter in connection with their production (see Table 21.19).60,61... 

When designing a radiopharmaceutical one should have in mind the potential hazard the product may have to the patient. The goal must be to have maximum amounts of photons with a minimum radiation exposure of the patient. For use in therapy, P emitters and a emitters are particularly useful. For diagnostic purposes, y emitters are most widely used. In general, those y emitters with a short physical half-life and with a y energy between 100 and 300 keV are most widely used in medical application, since these can easily be detected by standard y cameras. 

Some actinides have medical applications for example, radioactive cali-fornium-252 (Cf) is used in cancer therapy. Better results in killing cancer cells have been achieved using this isotope of californium than by using the more traditional X-ray radiation. 

Nuclear Waste Disposal Cancer Therapy Using Radiation Nuclear Medicine Making Isotopes for Medical Applications... 

New medical applications of yttrium include Taxol and °Y-labeled DOTA-pep-tide-ChL6 as radioimmunoconconjugates for targeting ionizing radiation to breast cancer model HBT 3477 (DeNardo etal.1997), as well as modem endoscopy therapy using a YAG laser (Alsolarman et al. 2002). 

Nuclear chemistry is the study of nuclear reactions, with an emphasis on their uses in chemistry and their effects on biological systems. Nuclear chemistr) affects our lives in many ways, particularly in energy and medical applications. In radiation therapy, for example, gamma rays from a radioactive substance such as cobalt-60 are directed to cancerous tumors to destroy them. Positron emission tomography (PET) is one example of a medical diagnostic tool that relies on decay of a radioactive element injected into the body. 

Driving Nonspontaneous Reactions Coupling Reactions 842 Heartbeats and Electrocardiography 884 Medical Applications of Radiotracers 928 Radiation Therapy 943... 

The application of radiation and gas discharge processing to synthesize or modify polymeric materials for medical applications continues to increase in interest and diversity around the world. Incorporation of biologically active molecules is an important additional processing step which can open up many new and exciting medical applications for diagnosis and therapy. 

Polysulfone exhibits remarkably high resistance to y-radiation and, in the typical thickness for service applications, is largely permeable to X-rays used in medical diagnostics and therapy [572]. 

In addition to the fundamental scientific aspects, many studies on the chemical effects of heavy ion radiolysis have significant practical applications. These applications range from the nuclear power industry [26,27], space radiation effects [28], medical therapy [29],... 

This chapter is meant to serve as a guide to the type of accelerators and other radiation sources available for the study of chemical reactions. Radiolysis techniques are in widespread commercial use in applications such as the preparation of materials, sterilization of medical supplies, preservation of foodstuffs, as well as medical therapy. The devices used for these applications will not be covered here, although some of them are also used in chemical kinetics research... 

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