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What is a tracer used for?
What is a radioactive tracer used for?
Why do we use tracer testing?
What is a nuclear tracer used for?
People are exposed to sources of radiation in all aspects of everyday life. Radioactive sources can be very useful but need handling carefully to ensure safety. Part of Physics (Single Science ...
Medical tracers emit detectable radiation, so if part of the tracer is absorbed by an organ, we can see this organ through the radiation emitted by the tracer. What type of radiation is used in medical tracers?
Radioactive tracers have transformed the landscape of medical diagnostics through their unique ability to provide functional insights into the human body. In nuclear medicine, these tracers are instrumental in diagnosing diseases, guiding treatment decisions and monitoring patient responses.
- Phosphorus Uptake by Plants
- Pesticide Levels
- Medical Tracers
- Positron Emission Tomography
Plants take up phosphorus-containing compounds from the soil through their roots. By adding a small amount of radioactive phosphorus-32 to fertiliser and then measuring the rate at which radioactivity appears in the leaves, it is possible to calculate the rate of uptake of phosphorus from the soil. The information gathered could help plant biologis...
To measure pesticide levels, a pesticide can be tagged with a radioisotope such as chlorine-36, and this is applied to a field of test plants. Over a period of time, radioactivity measurements are made. Estimates can then be made about how much accumulates in the soil, how much is taken up by the plant and how much is carried off in run-off surface...
Radioactive isotopes and radioactively labelled molecules are used as tracers to identify abnormal bodily processes. This is possible because some elements tend to concentrate (in compound form) in certain parts of the body – iodine in the thyroid, phosphorus in the bones and potassium in the muscles. When a patient is injected with a compound dope...
A positron emission tomography (PET) scan measures important body functions, such as blood flow, oxygen use and glucose use. The information gathered helps doctors find out how well organs and tissues are functioning. Radionuclides used in PET scanning are isotopes with short half–lives, such as carbon-11 (~20 min), nitrogen-13 (~10 min), oxygen-15...
The uptake of the tracer is generally a measure of the organ function or metabolism or the organ blood flow. Diagnostic nuclear medicine involves the use of radioactive tracers to image and/or measure the global or regional function of an organ.
Generally, however, they are useful either because we can detect their radioactivity or we can use the energy they release. Radioactive isotopes are effective tracers because their radioactivity is easy to detect. A tracer is a substance that can be used to follow the pathway of that substance through some structure.
In Case 1, the presence or absence of the tracer is key, while in Case 2 proper analysis requires the complete tracer breakthrough curve. Qualitative test objectives typically answer questions regarding fluid sources, recharge/discharge locations, hydraulic connectivity, etc., in a qualitative (yes/no) sense.
