andtreatmentofthyroiddisease.Itwasfoundthatthethyroidspecificallyabsorbsiodine. Now,fivedecadeslater,isotopetechnologyhasdevelopedtoahighdegree,definingwhichuniquepropertiesof radioisotopes are best at particular tasks.

There are now Radioisotopes or radionuclides are artificially produced, about200radioisotopesinuse. unstableatomsofachemicalelement,whichhaveadifferentnumberofneutronsinthenucleus,butthesamenumber Diagnostics and Treatment ofprotonsandthesamechemicalproperties.Manylivefor Radioisotopeswhichemitgammaraysareusedtoday onlyminutes.Theirexistenceismeasuredinhalf-lives, inmedicaldiagnostics,toprovideinformationabouthow howlongittakesforhalfoftheisotopetodisappear. certain organsthe thyroid, bones, heart, liver, and so Toproduceradioisotopes,astableisotopeisbombard- onare functioning, without surgery. Radioisotopes can edwithfastneutronsthatareproducedinanuclearreactor alsobeusedtoimagetheprogressofcertaintreatments, oraparticleaccelerator.Thestableisotopeistransmuted suchasshrinkingtumors.Theradiationdoesnotstayinthe intoanunstableisotopeofthesameelement. body,andtherearenoside-effects. Smallerprotonlinearaccelerators(linacs),whichcan Themostfrequentlyusedradioisotopeinmedicinetobelocatednearamedicalfacilityarealsounderdevelop- dayistechnetium-99m,whichhasahalf-lifeofsixhours.It ment,suchasthatoftheAdvancedMedicalIsotopeCorpo- issuppliedtohospitalsinaleadcontainerofitsmorestable rationinWashingtonState.ThefusionprogramoftheUni- precursor, molybdenum-99, which has a half-life of 66 versity of Wisconsin at Madison is investigating a new hoursanddecaystotechnetium-99m.Thehospitalextracts methodofproducingisotopesinasmallfusionreactor.A the technetium-99m as needed, and the container is re1-wattfusionsourcehasalreadydemonstratedthatitcould placedasneeded. provideveryshort-livedradioisotopedosesforusewitha Radioisotopesarealsousedindiseasetreatment,espePET(positronemissiontomography)scanner. ciallycancer,wheregamma-emittingisotopesareattached FromthetimeoftheManhattanProject,scientistshad to some kind of carrier, such as a monoclonal antibody, realized that nuclear fission would provide an unlimited whichtargetsparticularcancercells.Thecarrierdelivers amountoftracerandtherapeuticradioisotopes.1Thefirst theradioisotopetothecancersite,wherethegammarays majoruseofaradioisotopewasiodine-131,fordiagnosis destroythecancerouscells,withminimaldamagetosurroundingtissue. Asnotedintheaccompanyingarticle,researchisongo1. SeeAvailabilityofRadioactiveIsotopes:AnnouncementfromHeadingintotheuseofradioisotopesintreatingAIDSandother quarters,ManahattanProject,Washington,D.C.Science,June14,1946, Vol.103,No.2685. diseases.Marjorie Mazel Hecht

What Are Radioisotopes?

January4,2008 EIR

Science&Technology 71