1. CS 2124-2125 Introduction to Medical Computing
Stephen M. Watt

2. Supplementary Material to Previous Lecture
CBC demo spreadsheet, available on OWL
Nuclear decay for medical molecules.

4. Nuclear Decay
α decay:
Nucleus emits an alpha particle (2 protons + 2 neutrons) and thereby “decays” into an atom with mass number 4 less and atomic number 2 less.
Because α particles are relatively heavy and positively charged, they tend to have a short mean free path. Deposit a lot of energy in a short distance.

5. Nuclear Decay
β decay:
Nucleus emits a beta particle -- positron (e+, β+) or electron (e-, β-) – and thereby “decays” into an atom with the same mass number and atomic number differing by 1.
Electron emission
Positron emission
Electron capture

6. Nuclear Decay
Plot isotopes as number of neutrons vs number of protons.
Shows types of decay. (image courtesy wikipedia)

7. Gamma Radiation
After an α or β decay, the daughter nucleus is left in an excited state.
It moves to a lower energy state by emitting a gamma ray (γ).
Gamma rays are photons at higher energies (shorter wavelengths) than X rays.

8. PET Scan Positron Emission Tomography
A PET scan detects gamma rays emitted following β+ emission.

9. Radiopharmacology
The study and preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, i.e. radioactive pharmaceuticals used as tracers in nuclear medicine.
About 1/3 of world’s supply, and most of North American supply, produced at Chalk River Laboratories, Ontario.
Irradiate materials with neutrons from U-235 fission.
Produces Mo-99, Tc-99m (m for “metastable”)
Cyclotrons used to produce other isotopes, e.g. F-18.
Table on next page (courtesy Wikipedia), lists common medical isotopes.

10. Medical Isotopes 511 (193%) 249.8 (97%)[11]
Common isotopes used in nuclear medicine [9][10]
isotope
symbol Z
T1/2
decay
gamma (keV)
positron (keV)
Imaging:
fluorine-18
18F 9 m β+
511 (193%)
249.8 (97%)[11]
gallium-67
67Ga 31
3.26 d ec
93 (39%), 185 (21%), 300 (17%) -
krypton-81m
81mKr 36
13.1 s IT
190 (68%)
rubidium-82
82Rb 37
1.27 m
511 (191%)
3.379 (95%)
nitrogen-13
13N 7
9.97 m
511 (200%)
1190 (100%)[12]
technetium-99m
99mTc 43
6.01 h
140 (89%)
indium-111
111In 49
2.80 d
171 (90%), 245 (94%)
iodine-123
123I 53
13.3 h
159 (83%)
xenon-133
133Xe 54
5.24 d β-
81 (31%)
0.364 (99%)
thallium-201
201Tl 81
3.04 d
69–83* (94%), 167 (10%)
Therapy:
yttrium-90
90Y 39
2.67 d
2.280 (100%)
iodine-131
131I
8.02 d
364 (81%)
0.807 (100%)
Z = atomic number, the number of protons; T1/2 = half-life; decay = mode of decay photons = principle photon energies in kilo-electron volts, keV, (abundance/decay) β = beta maximum energy in mega-electron volts, MeV, (abundance/decay) β+ = β+ decay; β- = β- decay; IT = isomeric transition; ec = electron capture * X-rays from progeny, mercury, Hg