How does a technetium 99m generator work?
Tc-99m is radioactive because one or more of the protons and neutrons in its nucleus is in an excited state. Tc-99m decays into Tc-99 with a half-life of six hours and this makes it particularly well suited to use in the body: after one day (four half-lives) only 6.3% of the initial Tc-99m remains.
How technetium 99m is produced?
Technetium -99m is produced by bombarding molybdenum 98Mo with neutrons. This process permits the production of 99mTc for medical purposes. Since 99Mo is a fission product of 235U fission, it can be separated from the other fission products and used to generate 99mTc.
What type of energy does technetium 99m emit?
It is well suited to the role, because it emits readily detectable gamma rays with a photon energy of 140 keV (these 8.8 pm photons are about the same wavelength as emitted by conventional X-ray diagnostic equipment) and its half-life for gamma emission is 6.0058 hours (meaning 93.7% of it decays to 99Tc in 24 hours).
How is technetium-99m used?
Technetium (Tc-99m) is an isotope commonly used in a number of medical diagnostic imaging scans. Tc99m is used as a radioactive tracer for nuclear medicine; which is a form of medical imaging that assesses how particular parts of our body are working or functioning.
How is technetium-99m administered?
When administered by intravenous injection, Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid is taken up by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), allowing RES rich structures to be imaged. Technetium Tc 99m decays by isomeric transition with a physical half-life of 6.02 hours.
How is technetium 99m used?
How is technetium 99m administered?
What are the limitations of technetium 99m?
It gives high yields of 99Mo of very high specific activity. However, its main disadvantages are high costs and generation of large quantities of highly radioactive waste. Depending on the separation method several types of generators were developed.
How is technetium 99m excreted?
1) of technetium 99m consist of a short, but not too short, physical half-life of six hours, the emission of a clean 140 kev gamma ray, and the absence of primary particle radiation. Excretion of Tc99m after administration of pertechnetate is rapid during the first twenty-four hours, mostly in the urine.
How was technetium first discovered?
Technetium was discovered by Emilio Segrè in 1937 in Italy. He investigated molybdenum from California which had been exposed to high energy radiation and he found technetium to be present and separated it. Today, this element is extracted from spent nuclear fuel rods in tonne quantities.