Hyderabad: ‘Isotopes play a major role in the Diagnosis’
‘Technetium-99m and Molybdenum-99 with half-lives of 6 hours and 66 hours respectively are very important radioisotopes in medical diagnosis. Mo-99 decays to technetium-99m. More than 80 percent of the diagnostic procedures are performed using technetium-99m which is known as ‘Work Horse’ in nuclear medicine’ said Dr. Madhava B.Mallia, Scientific Officer-G, Radiopharmaceuticals Division, BARC, Mumbai.
He delivered a lecture on ‘Radioisotope Production’ in the ongoing 102nd DAE BRNS-IANCAS five-day National Workshop on ‘Radiochemistry and Applications of Radioisotopes’ at GITAM School of Science on April 5, 2022.
Technetium-99m, the decay product of Mo-99, is used in about two-thirds of all diagnostic medical isotope procedures in nuclear medicine for diagnostic imaging, he said. Radioisotopes are also used in various fields like- Hydrology, Biology, Healthcare applications, Material Science, Chemical Science, Industry, Food Technology and Agriculture, Dr. Madhava explained. By injecting radioisotope we can detect the underground petroleum pipe leakage also, he said. He answered the questions raised by the delegates.
Prior to this, Dr. A.V.R.Reddy, Formerly Radiochemistry & Analytical Chemistry Division, BARC delivered a lecture on ‘Nuclear Stability and Structure’ and Dr. Dhanadeep Dutta, Radiochemistry Division on ‘Interaction of Radiation with Matter’. The workshop would be continued three more days.
