SPECT lecture 1 - Nuclear medicine imaging:

basic principles of ionising radiation

What is the definition of radiation and list the types of radiation?

radiation is energy that moves from one place to another in waves or particle form.

non-ionising + ionising radiation

What is non-ionising radiation?

What is ionising radiation?

List the 2 uses of ionising radiation in medicine:

List the 2 ionising radiation sources ,the three types of radiation and what radiation is measured in:

What does half-life mean?

becomes head as radioactive/less radioactive

What does a shorter and longer half-life mean?

List the 3 types of radioactive decay and their properties?

What happens in nuclear medicine?

radiation is introduced in to the patient’s body

What is another name for radiopharmaceutical and why?

tracer as we inject very small (trace) amounts

List the 3 differences between tracers and contrast agents:

• Tracers are administered in lower concentrations​

• Tracers do not affect the process they are targeting​

• Radiotracers are radioactive, contrast agents are not​

If we can detect the radiation then we can build up a picture of where the tracer has gone in the body, and we can track the function it targets​