RADIOISOTOPES

Presented by: Roselyn M. Carmen

Meriam Puegan
INTRODUCTION
• An ATOM is composed of a positively charged nucleus
that is surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged
electrons.
• The number of orbital electrons is equal to the number of
protons present in the nucleus , this number is known as
atomic number ( Z ) .
• The sum of protons & neutrons in a given nucleus is the
mass number.
• A = Z + N ( N is the number of neutrons )
ATOMS AND THEIR COMPONENTS
 THE ATOM

ATOM
Building blocks
of matter

NUCLEUS ORBITING ELECTRON

Protons Negatively charged
& Neutrons Particle
DEFINITION
ISOTOPES are nuclides with the same atomic
number but different mass numbers .

The spontaneous degradation of nucleus &

transmission of one element to another with
consequent emission of rays or particles is known as
RADIOACTIVITY.

RADIOISOTOPES/RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES of an
element can be defined as atoms that contain an
unstable nucleus and dissipate excess energy by
spontaneously emitting radiation in the form of alpha,
beta and gamma rays.
ELECTROMAGNETIC
SPECTRUM
ISOTOPES OF CARBON
Uranium-238-naturally-occurring uranium (0.7%)
Uranium-235- less stable , or more radioactive, which has three less neutrons.
HOW DO RADIOISOTOPES OCCUR?
• *NATURALLY- as in radium-226, Carbon-12
• *ARTIFICIALLY altering the atoms by using a
nuclear reactor or a cyclotron.
○ Most of the isotopes which occur naturally are stable.
○ A few naturally occurring isotopes and all of the man-
made isotopes are unstable.
Unstable isotopes can become stable by releasing
different types of particles.
This process is called RADIOACTIVE DECAY and
the elements which undergo this process are called
radioactive isotopes/ radioisotopes/ radionuclides.
 RADIOACTIVITY
■ RADIOACTIVITY is the process whereby
unstable atomic nuclei release energetic
subatomic particles.
■ First discovered in 1896 by the French
scientist HENRI BECQUEREL, after whom
the SI unit for radiation, the Becquerel, is
named.
PROPERTIES OF RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES

EMITS RADIATION PENETRATIO SAME

N PROPERTY CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES

1 3 5

2 4

HALF LIFE (t ½ ) DIFFERENT

PHYSICAL
PROPERTIES
 RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIOISOTOPES

■ Radioactive isotopes are unstable so they

undergo radioactive decay emitting radiations.
■ Till they become stable

■ 3 types of Radiations
○ Alpha particles(α)
○ Beta particles(β
○ Gamma rays(g)
■ BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF RADIATION
○ Radiation of higher energy can penetrate farther into
a tissue.
○ Persons who work with radioactive materials wear a
heavy lab coat, lab glasses, and gloves and may
stand behind a plastic or lead shield.
○ People who routinely work with radioactive materials
or X-rays usually wear a film badge to monitor their
total exposure.
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF RADIATION
TYPES OF Alpha Particles (α) Beta Particles (β) Gamma Rays (γ)
RADIATION
Relative Change +2 -1 0
Ionising Effect Strong Weak Very Weak
Penetrating Effect not very Penetrating: Very penetrating:
penetrating: stopped by a few Never completely
Stopped by a millimeters of stopped, though
thick sheet of aluminum or other lead and thick
paper, by skin or metal. concrete will
by a few reduce intensity.
centimeters of air.
Effect of Field Deflected by Deflected by Not deflected by
magnetic and magnetic and magnetic or
electric field electric field. electric fields.
 TYPES OF RADIO ACTIVE DECAY

1,. NEGATRON EMISSION 2. POSITRON EMISSION

5. X RAYS
EMISSION

3. α PARTICLE EMISSION 4. GAMMA RAYS EMISSION

RADIOACTIVE DECAY
 DETECTION & MEASUREMENT
OF RADIOACTIVITY
AUTORADIOGRAPH
Y

FLUORESCENT
SCINTILLATION

GAS IONIZATION
DETECTORS
These are the basis to detect & measure
radioactivity in clinical laboratory .
 UNITS OF
RADIOACTIVITY
■ BEQUEREL is the unit of radioactivity is defined as one
disintegration per second (1 d. p. s. ).
■ Frequently used units are CURIE , defined as the quantity
of radioactive material in which the number of nuclear
disintegrations per second is same as the 1gm of radium
( 3.7 X 10 10 Bq )
■ SPECIFIC ACTIVITY is defined as disintegration rate per
unit mass of radioactive atoms.
RADIOACTIVITY
UNITS
 HALF LIFE OF
RADIOISOTOPES

■ Half life of radio isotope is the time period required

for radionuclide to decay to one half the amount
originally present .
■ t1/2 = 0.6931/λ.
■ λ is decay constant , a characteristic of a given
isotope decaying in unit time .
 HALF LIFE
■ During each half-life, half of the remaining
radioactive substance decay into atoms of a
new element.

` Where “Th” is thorium and “Pa” is protactinium.

 HALF-LIVES
Natural radioisotopes have long half-lives.
Radioisotopes used in medicine have short half-
lives; radioactivity is eliminated quickly.
DECAY SERIES OF U-238
 RADIATION UNITS AND HALF-LIVES
Every radioactive isotope emits radiation,
at a different rate.
Unstable isotopes emit radiation more
rapidly.
The rate of decay is measured as half-life,
the time it takes for one-half (50%) of the
atoms in
a sample to decay.

Decay is measured on a Geiger counter .

 DETERMINING HALF-
LIVES
Step 1: Determine the total number of half-lives.
Step 2: Determine the amount of isotope remaining.

Or use the following equation

Or
 SOME EXAMPLES OF HALF
LIFE

Sodium-24 has a half life of 15 hrs. if there are 800 grams of Na-
24 initially how long will it take for 750 g of Na-24 to decay?
800
  → 400 →200 → 100→ 50
 4 h𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑦 800 𝑡𝑜 50

 15 𝑥 4=60h𝑟𝑠
 
=-Kt
  ln ⁡(2)
𝐾=
1 =  -(0.04621)(15)
𝑡
2
𝐾 =0.04621
  59.9999
 
𝑜𝑟 60 h𝑟𝑠
SOME EXAMPLES OF HALF LIVES
 EXERCISE: (10 MIN)

1. The half- life of oxygen-15 is 2 minutes. What

fraction of a sample of 0.15 will remain after 5-
half lives.

2. It takes 35 days for a 512 gram sample of element

X to decay to a final amount of 4 grams. What is
the half- life of the element X?
 APPLICATIONS OF RADIOACTIVE
ISOTOPES

1. 2. 3. 4.
DIAGNOSTIC
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL  THERAPEUTIC
RESEARCH
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR RADIOISOTOPES
■ Nuclear radiation can be high-energy particles or
high-energy rays.

■ Some radioisotopes of elements are useful in

medical imaging, as they concentrate in particular
tissues.

■ The radiation can create an image on a

photographic plate or be detected by scanning
sections of the body.
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR RADIOISOTOPES
 MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR RADIOISOTOPES
■ It is important to expose patients to
the smallest possible dose of
radiation for the shortest time period.
■ Radioisotopes with short
half-lives are selected for use in
nuclear medicine.
■ Iodine is used only by the thyroid
gland:
 MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR RADIOISOTOPES
■ The two main uses of medical radioisotopes
○ Diagnosing diseased states
○ Therapeutically treating diseased tissues

■ When diagnosing a diseased state, a minimum amount of

radioisotope is administered.

■ The isotope is for detection only and should have

minimal effects on body tissue.
○ Radioisotope used this way is a tracer.
 RADIOISOTOPES AND CANCER
TREATMENT
In external beam radiation
therapy, gamma radiation
generated from cobalt-60
is aimed at a tumor,
destroying the tissue.

In brachytherapy, small Ti
“seeds” containing
radioisotopes are
implanted in a tumor.
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR RADIOISOTOPES
■ Positron Emission Tomography
 POSITRON EMISSION
TOMOGRAPHY
○ PET scans are used to identify functional
abnormalities in organs and tissues.
○ Fluorine-18 has a half-life of 110 min.
○ The fluorine isotope emits a positron as it
decays to form oxygen-18.
○ The positron comes into contact with an
electron, and gamma radiation is produced
and detected by the scanner.
○ This type of scan is commonly used for the
brain.