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Medical Physics

J.Jeyasugiththan PhD
Department of Nuclear Science
University of Colombo

What is Medical Physics

— Application of Physics in Medicine using ionizing and no-

ionizing radiation (diagnostic imaging, radiotherapy etc.)

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Learning outcomes

At the end of this class you will be able to

ü describe nuclear stability and radioisotopes.

ü define activity (A) and half-life (T1/2).
ü describe radioactive decays such as alpha, beta (positron and
electron) and gamma.
ü describe emission of characteristic x-rays, conversion electron
and Auger electron.

Types of radiation

High wavelength Short wavelength

Low frequency High frequency

Radiation: A way of transferring energy through space

away from a source.
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Classification of radiation
Radiation is classified into two main categories, (1) non-ionizing
and (2) ionizing, depending on its ability to ionize matter

— Non-ionizing radiation
- Low energy electromagnetic waves
- can not ionize matter (visible light, microwaves, radio
waves)

— Ionizing Radiation
- high energy electromagnetic waves
- can ionize matter either directly (charged particles
such as electrons, protons, a-particles and heavy ions)
or indirectly (neutral particles such as photons (x-
rays and g-rays, neutrons)

Use of radiation in Medicine

— Diagnostic imaging
- Ionizing radiation: X-ray, Mammography, Fluoroscopy
CT, PET, SPECT
- Non-ionizing radiation: US, MRI

— Radiotherapy
- External beam (teletherapy): x-rays, neutron, electrons
- Internal beam (Brachytherapy)
- Radionuclide therapy – using radioisotope

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Atom

The atom is composed of:

— positively charged (+) protons,
— uncharged neutrons and
— negatively charged (-) electrons

Nucleon: a proton or neutron

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Atom

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/nucnot.html

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Atom

Taken from: Basics of PET Imaging, Gopal B. Saha

Atom

Definition Example

The nuclides having the same

6C, 6C and 146C
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Isotopes number of protons

The nuclides having the same

8 O8 and 167N8
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Isotones number of neutrons

The nuclides having the same

131I and 131Xe
Isobars mass number

The nuclides with the same

99m Tc and 99Tc.
Isomers mass number but differing
in energy

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Nuclear Stability
— The strong nuclear force is
attractive force between protons and
neutrons.

— Electrostatic repulsions between

positively charged protons would
normally cause the protons to repel
each other (to fly apart).

— The nuclear force is extremely

powerful in very short-range.

— The nuclear force is responsible for

the binding energy that holds the
nucleus together.

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Nuclear Stability

— In stable atomic nucleus

the repulsions are overcome by the strong nuclear
force (no radioactive decay)

— In unstable atomic nucleus

the attractive strong nuclear force are weaker than
the electrostatic repulsions between protons (it will
eventually decay).

The presence of the extra neutrons overcomes the

positively charged protons’ tendency to repel each
other and disrupt the nucleus

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Nuclear Stability

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Nuclear Stability

— The elements (or isotopes) are divided into two types on the basis of their
nuclear stability:

Non-radioactive element:
− has stable nucleus and never decay
− those with atomic numbers (number of protons) up to and
including bismuth (Z = 83).
− The exceptions are technetium (Z = 43) and promethium (Z = 61).

Radioactive elements (radionuclide):

− Unstable
− undergoes radioactive decay and get disintegrated
− atomic numbers higher than 83

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Nuclear Stability

Radionuclides
It has unstable nucleus due to the unsuitable composition of
neutrons and protons or excess energy and, therefore, decay
by emission of radiations.

Binding Energy
The work to remove a nucleon from the nucleus, is
called the nuclear binding energy.

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Radioactive Decay Equations

— The atoms of a radioactive sample decay randomly,

and cannot tell which atom will decay at what time.

— The decay rate is proportional to the number of

radioactive atoms present in the sample.

— λ is the decay constant

— Activity (A) - disintegration per second

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Radioactive Decay Law

Basics of PET Imaging, Gopal B. Saha 17

Radioactive Decay Equations

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Radioactive Decay Equations

Half-life (T1/2) :

The time required to reduce the initial activity to one-half.

It is unique for every radionuclide and is related to the decay

constant as follows:

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Half-Life
— The time required for any given radionuclide to decrease
to one-half of its original quantity is called the half-life
and is characteristic of the particular radionuclide.

A0 is the original
quantity of
activity and A is
the activity left
after n half-lives

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Example 2.1
A mass of 1 μg radium is found to emit 3.7 × 104 alpha particles
per second. If each of these alphas represents a radioactive
transformation of radium, what is the transformation rate
constant for radium?

The transformation rate constant,

The number of radium atoms per microgram, where A is the

atomic weight and W is the weight of the radium sample.

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Example 2.1

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Example 2.2

What percentage of a given amount of radium will decay

during a period of 1000 years?

The fraction remaining after 1000 years is given by

The percentage that decayed during the 1000-year period,

therefore, is

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Learning outcomes

At the end of this class you will be able to

ü describe nuclear stability and radioisotopes.

ü define activity (A) and half-life (T1/2).
ü describe radioactive decays such as alpha, beta (positron and
electron) and gamma.
ü describe emission of characteristic x-rays, conversion electron
and Auger electron.

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Radioactivity
Decay by emission of radiations such as

ü α particle
ü β− particles
ü β+ particles
ü electron capture
ü Isomeric transition

— In this process, the nucleus emits

particles to adjust its neutron (N) to
proton (Z) ratio

— This change in the N to Z ratio tends to

move the radionuclide toward the
stability.

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Pioneers in Radioactivity

Rutherford:
Roentgen:
Discoverer Alpha
and Beta rays Discoverer of
1897 X-rays 1895

The Curies:
Becquerel:
Discoverer of
Radium and Discoverer of
Polonium 1900- Radioactivity
1908 1896

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Alpha Decay

Very large unstable atoms

Smallest stable
nuclear fragment

Very large unstable atoms (atoms with high atomic mass) ®

split into nuclear fragments.

Essentials of Nuclear Medicine Physics and Instrumentation 27

Alpha Decay

226
88 Ra® 222
86 Rn + 4
2 He

Daughter
Parent nucleus
nucleus

Transmutation is the changing

of one element into another.

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Alpha Decay

Very large
unstable
atoms

If fragments is larger ® Fission ® two or three

neutrons are emitted

Essentials of Nuclear Medicine Physics and Instrumentation 29

Beta Decay (b-)

Nucleus
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6 C ®147N + e - +n
with excess
neutrons

To achieve stability ® conversion of a neutron into a proton and

an electron ® the proton remains in the nucleus, but the electron
is emitted.
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Beta Decay (b-)

— Beta decay occurs with the emission of an electron (e-) or β-

particle.
antineutrino
carries the “missing”
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6 C ®147N + e - +n energy of the reaction
(rule for conservation of
energy ).

— No nucleons are lost, and the total number of nucleons are the
same in the daughter nucleus as in the parent nucleus.

— With the loss of an electron, the nucleus must have an extra

positive charge, so in this case the number of protons is 7, which
is Nitrogen.

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Positron Decay (b+)

Nucleus
with excess
protons

Combination
of positron
decay
and electron
capture

To achieve stability ® conversion of a proton into an neutron

and a b+ (positron )® the neutron remains in the nucleus, but the
b+ is emitted.
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Positron Decay (b+)

— In this type of beta decay, the particle that is emitted

is called a positron, as it has the same mass as an
electron, but has a charge of +1 (also written as e+ or
β+)

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10 Ne®199Fl + e + +n
— The positron is called the antiparticle to the electron.

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Electron Capture
One of its inner orbital electrons is captured by one
Nucleus of the protons in the nucleus ® converted into a
with excess neutron
protons

Combination
of positron
decay
and electron
capture

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Electron Capture

Outer shell electron then fills the vacancy in the inner shell ® emitted
as an X-ray ® energy of X-ray = energy different between the shells.

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Electron Capture

— Electron capture occurs when a nucleus absorbs one

of the orbiting electrons. Usually, this is one of the
inner most electrons.

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4 Be + e - ®37 Li +n

— The electron disappears and a proton becomes a

neutron in the process. A neutrino is emitted in
electron capture decay.

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Gamma Decay
A gamma ray is a photon (energy) emitted by an excited nucleus
because it has too much energy.

Following alpha & beta decay and electron capture ®nucleus

contains an excess of energy ® an excited state
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Gamma Decay
Isomeric transition
If the excited nucleus has a half-life longer than 10–12 s (stable
enough) ® an isomer ® the excess energy is shed by an isomeric
transition.

Gamma rays are

emitted from the
nuclei of excited
atoms that is trying
to get back to its
ground state.

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Gamma Decay
Isomeric transition
Most isomeric transitions occur as a combination of following two
reactions ® gamma emission and internal conversion..

Inner-shell
electron
inner-orbital
ejected from the vacancy is rapidly
atom filled with an outer-
shell electron ®
production of X-ray or
Auger electron.

if the excess energy

(gamma energy) is
greater than the binding
energy of the electron.

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Gamma Decay
Isomeric transition

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Gamma Decay
Isomeric transition

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