Open AccessThe use of radioactive substances in medicine — history and development prospects
Author(s) -
М. С. Шеремета,
А. А. Трухин,
M. O. Korchagina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
problemy èndokrinologii
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2308-1430
pISSN - 0375-9660
DOI - 10.14341/probl12824
Subject(s) - ionizing radiation , radionuclide , medical physics , nuclear medicine , medicine , radiochemistry , physics , nuclear physics , chemistry , irradiation
Nuclear medicine (NM) is a medical specialty that uses radionuclides (radioactive tracers) and ionising radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic (theranostic) purposes. Nuclear medicine arose and developed at the intersection of physics, chemistry and clinical medicine. The radiation emitted by radioisotopes can consist of gamma-, beta- and alpha emission, or it’s combination. Radioisotope of choice for medical purposes should have futher requirements: low radiotoxicity, suitable type of radiation, energy and half-life (several minutes to several hours and days), and also convenient detection of gamma ray radiation. The radionuclide is part of radiopharmaceutical (RP) and acts as its indicator. RP accumulates in morphological structures, becomes a carrier of coordinated information from patient to gamma camera or other equipment and reflects the dynamics of processes occurring in the examined organ. In 2021 NM celebrates its 80th anniversary. The trajectory of NM combines modern methods of radiotheranostics and applied genomic and post-genomic technologies.