How is technetium-99m generated?
Technetium -99m is produced by bombarding molybdenum 98Mo with neutrons. The resultant 99Mo decays with a half-life of 66 hours to the metastable state of Tc . This process permits the production of 99mTc for medical purposes.
How technetium-99m is prepared using a generator?
A technetium-99m generator, or colloquially a technetium cow, is a device used to extract the metastable isotope 99mTc from a source of decaying molydenum-99. Most commercial 99Mo – 99mTc generators use column chromatography, in which 99Mo is adsorbed onto acid alumina (Al2O3).
What are the limitations of technetium-99m?
It gives high yields of 99Mo of very high specific activity. However, its main disadvantages are high costs and generation of large quantities of highly radioactive waste. Depending on the separation method several types of generators were developed.
Where is technetium-99m produced?
nuclear research reactors
A large majority of Tc-99m is produced in nuclear research reactors. More precisely, the reactors produce Tc-99m’s longer-lived parent isotope molybdenum-99 (half life 66 hours) with neutron bombardment of enriched uranium targets. There is a long-established worldwide trade in Mo-99.
How does technetium 99m work in the body?
WHAT IS TECHNETIUM-99m USED FOR? Technetium-99m decays by a process called isomeric transition, a process in which 99mTc decays to 99Tc via the release of gamma rays and low energy electrons. Since there is no high energy beta emission the radiation dose to the patient is low.
Why is TC 99 used in medicine?
Technetium-99m is used to image the skeleton and heart muscle in particular, but also for brain, thyroid, lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, gall bladder, bone marrow, salivary and lachrymal glands, heart blood pool, infection and numerous specialized medical studies.
Why do hospitals use technetium generators?
Tc-99m is radioactive because one or more of the protons and neutrons in its nucleus is in an excited state. Hospitals cannot run their own nuclear reactors and so they rely on technetium generators – machines that produce Tc-99m from the decay of its parent isotope molybdenum-99.
What can technetium-99m diagnose?
Tc-99m is the preferred tracer for a number of scans used in medicine worldwide to help diagnose medical conditions. Tc-99m scans are used to detect a wide range of conditions including injuries, infections, tumours, heart disease, thyroid abnormalities, kidney conditions and also to guide some cancer procedures.
Why is TC-99 used in medicine?
What can you do with a technetium-99m generator?
A technetium-99m generator, or colloquially a technetium cow or moly cow, is a device used to extract the metastable isotope 99mTc of technetium from a source of decaying molybdenum-99.
What is the dose rate of a Tc-99m generator?
The generators, colloquially known as moly cows, provide radiation shielding for transport and to minimize the extraction work done at the medical facility. A typical dose rate at 1 metre from Tc-99m generator is 20-50 μSv/h during transport.
How often do you remove daughter nuclide from 99m generator?
Hence, removing the daughter nuclide ( elution process) from the generator (“milking” the cow) is reasonably done as often as every 6 hours in a 99 Mo/ 99m Tc generator. Most commercial 99 Mo/ 99m Tc generators use column chromatography, in which 99 Mo in the form of molybdate, MoO 42− is adsorbed onto acid alumina (Al 2 O 3 ).
Who was the first to use technetium as a tracer?
Based on the similarities between the chemistry of the tellurium-iodine parent-daughter pair, Tucker and Greene developed the first technetium-99m generator in 1958. It was not until 1960 that Richards became the first to suggest the idea of using technetium as a medical tracer.
