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You want the tracer to have a short half-life so that its radioactive impact to the object you are examining (usually, some organ in the body) is minimized.

The best known example of a tracer is technicium-99m, with a low energy gamma photopeak of 140.511 KeV and a half-life of only 6 hours. Since this is a meta-stable form of technicium-99, there is no beta or alpha emission, making this an ideal tracer.

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12y ago
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2w ago

Using radioactive tracers with short half-life allows for precise tracking of biological processes in real-time, as they decay quickly and emit radiation that can be detected immediately. This helps researchers to obtain accurate data on the specific pathways or mechanisms being studied. Additionally, short half-life tracers minimize radiation exposure to both researchers and the environment.

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14y ago

Radioactive compounds used in diagnosis are chosen because specific organs or types of tissue absorb them more than other compounds. By observing the emission of radiation, a picture of an organ can be obtained that is rather like an X-ray photograph.

Part of the trick to radio diagnosis is to expose the patient to the least amount of radiation possible. There is a certain amount of radiation that is required to get the picture. We want the patient to be exposed to as little additional radiation as possible. Another way of putting this is that the length of time needed to make the picture has the greatest possible portion of the total exposure of the patient to radioactive material.

One way to do this is to use materials with short half lives. The total amount of radioactive material is decreased, and the total exposure is as short as possible.

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12y ago

This minimizes the harmful side effects of the radiation.

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15y ago

A short half-life means the material only remains radioactive for a short time and does not continue to release radiation into the patient or environment.

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14y ago

It is important to limit the total radiation exposure.

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13y ago

So they will clear the body as soon as possible after the test or treatment is complete, minimizing side effects.

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13y ago

The use of radioisotopes for diagnostic or treatment is permanently checked and under severe cotrol, to avoid possible and unfortunately known accidents.

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12y ago

no

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Q: Why it is important to use radioactive tracers with short half-life?
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Radioactive tracers are short-lived?

That is correct. Radioactive tracers have a short half-life, which means they decay quickly and are no longer detectable after a short period of time. This property makes them useful for tracking processes in a relatively short time frame without long-lasting radiation exposure.


What is the radioactive form of carbon?

The radioactive form of carbon is carbon-14. It is formed in the atmosphere through interactions between cosmic rays and nitrogen, and it is commonly used in radiocarbon dating to determine the age of organic materials.


What are is gamma radiation made up of?

Gamma radiation is composed of electromagnetic waves with very high energy and short wavelengths. It does not have mass or charge. Gamma radiation is emitted during radioactive decay or nuclear reactions.


What is the lifetime of radioactive material?

The lifetime of radioactive material can vary greatly depending on the type of material. Some radioactive isotopes have very short lifetimes (seconds to days), while others can have lifetimes of thousands to millions of years. This is known as the half-life of the material, which is the time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay.


What is the weak force in nature?

The weak force is one of the four fundamental forces in nature, responsible for certain types of radioactive decay and interactions between subatomic particles. It is involved in the process of transforming one type of subatomic particle into another, such as in beta decay. The weak force is characterized by its short range compared to the other fundamental forces.

Related questions

Are radioactive tracers short lived?

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Radioactive tracers are short-lived?

That is correct. Radioactive tracers have a short half-life, which means they decay quickly and are no longer detectable after a short period of time. This property makes them useful for tracking processes in a relatively short time frame without long-lasting radiation exposure.


What three deuterium of hydrogen?

Your question makes no sense.ordinary hydrogen has 1 proton and no neutronsdeuterium has 1 proton and 1 neutrontritium has 1 proton and 2 neutrons, it is radioactive with a halflife of about 12 yearsThere are more isotopes of hydrogen with more neutrons, but they are radioactive and have such short halflives that they are nearly undetectable.


List several uses of radioactive isotopes?

Medical imaging and treatments, such as in cancer therapy and PET scans. Industrial applications like measuring thickness in materials and detecting leaks in pipelines. Agriculture for studying plant growth and monitoring soil erosion. Environmental monitoring to trace pollutants and study wildlife migration patterns.


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Rub it off Radioactive polonium brushes available in any photoshop will do this. The alpha particles emitted by the polonium ionize air and the ionized air carries off the static charge. These brushes should be bought new at least every year from a fresh batch at the photoshop due to the short halflife of polonium.


Is francium used in radioactive lasers?

Francium has an extremely short half life of about 20 minutes so no it is not. Radioactive lasers do not use radioactive materials anyway.


What has the author K E White written?

K. E. White has written: 'Short notes on dilution gauging methods and suitable water tracers'


What elements in chemistry that has short life spans and not included in periodic table?

You think probable to isotopes; but the most important isotope of artificial radioactive elements is included in the periodic table.


Is astatine bad?

As a radioactive element with a short half life astatine is dangerous.


Is nobelium radioactive?

Yes, nobelium is radioactive. It is a synthetic element that does not occur naturally and is produced in laboratory settings. All isotopes of nobelium are radioactive and have short half-lives, making them highly unstable.


Could there be a more elements that are unknown in the periodic table?

sure, but all will be radioactive with short halflives.


Does silicon undergo radioactive decay?

The 3 isotopes that make up all naturally occurring silicon (28, 29, 30) on earth are all stable and thus do not undergo radioactive decay. But other silicon isotopes that are lighter or heavier can be produced by particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, nuclear explosions, or rarely cosmic rays do undergo radioactive decay via either -Beta, +Beta, or Gamma emission depending on isotope.Silicon does exist in space near very active stars, supernovas, etc. in the form of isotopes that undergo radioactive decay.The longest lived silicon isotope (32) that will undergo radioactive decay, has a halflife of roughly 700 years and thus will effectively completely decay to stable sulfur-32 in less than 4000 years. All other silicon isotopes that undergo radioactive decay have halflives so short that they finish decaying to stable isotopes of other elements in much less than a single day.