- WELCOME TO NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY PART FIVE.
HERE, WE'LL LOOK AT THE ROLE OF NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
IN MEDICAL TREATMENTS AND DIAGNOSIS.
LET'S GET STARTED. ALL RIGHTY.
SO, NUCLEAR MEDICINE IS USED IN MEDICAL IMAGING AND IT HAS--
REGARDLESS OF THE PROCESS,
THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME GENERAL PROCEDURE, ALL RIGHT?
THE RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPE NEEDS TO BE ADMINISTERED, RIGHT, AND SO,
OF COURSE, HERE WE'RE GOING TO PAY ATTENTION
TO THE TYPE OF RADIATION
AND THE HALF-LIFE MAKING A CAREFUL SELECTION,
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO LOOK AT THE METABOLISM.
AND WE'LL LOOK AT THIS, SO,
HERE, MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST FOCUS ON THAT RIGHT NOW, RIGHT?
SO, IF YOU LOOK HERE
AT SOME VARIOUS MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF RADIOISOTOPES,
FOR EXAMPLE, YEAH, LIKE, STRONTIUM, RIGHT?
SO, STRONTIUM IS AN ALKALINE EARTH METAL, RIGHT?
SO, YOU THINK ABOUT, LIKE, OUR--
THE CALCIUM IN OUR BONES.
SO, IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO USE A RADIOISOTOPE
LIKE STRONTIUM TO LOOK FOR BONE LESIONS
BECAUSE ALKALINE EARTH METALS HAVE SIMILAR CHEMISTRY, RIGHT?
AND THEN WE LOOK AT THE HALF-LIFE
IN THAT SORT OF THING. OKAY.
AND THEN WHAT--
SO, THEN WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
IS ONCE THAT RADIOISOTOPE IS ADMINISTERED,
WE HAVE TO ALLOW IT TO METABOLIZE,
RIGHT, TO GET TO THE TARGET,
RIGHT, IT NEEDS TO TRAVEL, RIGHT,
TO TARGET ORGAN SYSTEM. OKAY.
AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS IS THE RADIATION IS MEASURED
FOR LOCATION AND INTENSITY.
AND THEN, THERE'S COMPUTER PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
THAT TRANSLATE THIS DATA INTO IMAGES.
SO, THIS IS THE GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR A MEDICAL IMAGING
THAT YOU WANT TO BE AWARE OF.
AND THEN FOR RADIATION THERAPY,
THIS IS WHERE WE ACTUALLY WERE GOING TO INTENTIONALLY DESTROY
PATHOLOGICAL CELLS OR TISSUES,
RIGHT, USING THE RADIATION.
AND SO, AN EXAMPLE OF RADIATION THERAPY, RIGHT,
COULD BE IODINE-131, RIGHT?
SO, AN ELEMENT WE KNOW THAT'S IMPORTANT TO OUR THYROID, RIGHT?
AND SO, WE COULD ACTUALLY--
PEOPLE, IF THEY HAVE AN OVERAGGRESSIVE,
LIKE, HYPERTHYROIDISM, LIKE,
THEIR THYROID IS JUST GOING TOO CRAZY,
WE'LL INTENTIONALLY ADMINISTER SOME IODINE-131.
IT WILL TRAVEL INTO THE THYROID AND ACTUALLY CAUSE PART
OF THE THYROID TO DIE LOWERING THE--
OR THE-- YEAH,
CAUSING OF THE THYROID TO DIE SO THAT IT RELEASES LESS
OF THE HORMONE AND TO BRING HEALTH TO THE PATIENT.
ALL RIGHTY.
SO, FOR MY CAUSE IN PARTICULAR,
I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO OFFER EXTRA CREDIT ON EXAMS FOR STUDENTS
TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE MEDICAL IMAGING PROCEDURE
AND BE ABLE TO KNOW AT LEAST ONE ISOTOPE
AND ITS MEDICAL APPLICATION.
SO, THAT WRAPS UP OUR MEDICAL--
NUCLEAR MEDICINE TUTORIAL.
PLEASE TAKE SOME TIME NOW
TO WORK A FEW EXAMPLES OR LOOK OVER THE DATA
SO THAT YOU CAN SHARE YOUR INFORMATION ON OUR NEXT EXAM.