Ionising radiation can be useful for treating cancer. Since high doses of gamma rays will kill all living cells, it can be carefully directed at just the right dosage to kill cancer cells, without damaging too many normal cells. However, a fair bit of damage is done to normal cells which makes the patient feel incredibly ill. If the cancer is killed off in the end, the treatment was therefore worthy. A capsule which emits beta radiation can be given to the person to swallow. You would need the element to have a long half-life so that the radioactivity lasts enough to kill lots of cancer cells despite the risk of killing or mutating lots of normal cells. This is called radiotherapy.
Another advantage of radioactivity is for medical equipment. Gamma rays are used to sterilise medical instruments through killing all the microbes on them. This is better than trying to boil the equipment which can damage them. You would require a strongly radioactive source that has a long half-life so that is doesn't need replacing too often.
You can even sterilise food. The gamma rays can kill of all microbes. This keeps the food fresh longer without having to freeze or cook it. The food is not radioactive afterwards so you can eat it.
Lastly, you could detect diseases by using tracers. Tracers are radioactive molecules that be be injected into people; they progress around the body and it is followed using an external detector. They can detect cancer or if an organ is working properly or not. They should have a short half-life so that the radioactivity inside the patient is gone before it could cause damage to the living cells.
So, what about PET scans?
Well, the process is very similar to using tracers.
BBC Bitesize goes into depth with PET scans and says the following:
"PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanning uses radioisotope tracer drugs such as fluorine-18. The tracer is usually injected into the patient’s blood. Gamma rays emitted by the tracer are detected by the PET scanner and multiple images are taken and then analysed by computers. The half-lives of radioisotopes used in PET scans are very short. This means that they often have to be produced in hospitals or at a nearby location." If you think about it, they need short half-lives so that the radioactive material is gone before it causes damage to normal cells, as mentioned with tracers.
Another advantage of radioactivity is for medical equipment. Gamma rays are used to sterilise medical instruments through killing all the microbes on them. This is better than trying to boil the equipment which can damage them. You would require a strongly radioactive source that has a long half-life so that is doesn't need replacing too often.
You can even sterilise food. The gamma rays can kill of all microbes. This keeps the food fresh longer without having to freeze or cook it. The food is not radioactive afterwards so you can eat it.
Lastly, you could detect diseases by using tracers. Tracers are radioactive molecules that be be injected into people; they progress around the body and it is followed using an external detector. They can detect cancer or if an organ is working properly or not. They should have a short half-life so that the radioactivity inside the patient is gone before it could cause damage to the living cells.
So, what about PET scans?
Well, the process is very similar to using tracers.
BBC Bitesize goes into depth with PET scans and says the following:
"PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanning uses radioisotope tracer drugs such as fluorine-18. The tracer is usually injected into the patient’s blood. Gamma rays emitted by the tracer are detected by the PET scanner and multiple images are taken and then analysed by computers. The half-lives of radioisotopes used in PET scans are very short. This means that they often have to be produced in hospitals or at a nearby location." If you think about it, they need short half-lives so that the radioactive material is gone before it causes damage to normal cells, as mentioned with tracers.
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