Life Atomic

Life Atomic PDF Author: Angela N. H. Creager
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022601794X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
After World War II, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began mass-producing radioisotopes, sending out nearly 64,000 shipments of radioactive materials to scientists and physicians by 1955. Even as the atomic bomb became the focus of Cold War anxiety, radioisotopes represented the government’s efforts to harness the power of the atom for peace—advancing medicine, domestic energy, and foreign relations. In Life Atomic, Angela N. H. Creager tells the story of how these radioisotopes, which were simultaneously scientific tools and political icons, transformed biomedicine and ecology. Government-produced radioisotopes provided physicians with new tools for diagnosis and therapy, specifically cancer therapy, and enabled biologists to trace molecular transformations. Yet the government’s attempt to present radioisotopes as marvelous dividends of the atomic age was undercut in the 1950s by the fallout debates, as scientists and citizens recognized the hazards of low-level radiation. Creager reveals that growing consciousness of the danger of radioactivity did not reduce the demand for radioisotopes at hospitals and laboratories, but it did change their popular representation from a therapeutic agent to an environmental poison. She then demonstrates how, by the late twentieth century, public fear of radioactivity overshadowed any appreciation of the positive consequences of the AEC’s provision of radioisotopes for research and medicine.

Life Atomic

Life Atomic PDF Author: Angela N. H. Creager
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022601794X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
After World War II, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began mass-producing radioisotopes, sending out nearly 64,000 shipments of radioactive materials to scientists and physicians by 1955. Even as the atomic bomb became the focus of Cold War anxiety, radioisotopes represented the government’s efforts to harness the power of the atom for peace—advancing medicine, domestic energy, and foreign relations. In Life Atomic, Angela N. H. Creager tells the story of how these radioisotopes, which were simultaneously scientific tools and political icons, transformed biomedicine and ecology. Government-produced radioisotopes provided physicians with new tools for diagnosis and therapy, specifically cancer therapy, and enabled biologists to trace molecular transformations. Yet the government’s attempt to present radioisotopes as marvelous dividends of the atomic age was undercut in the 1950s by the fallout debates, as scientists and citizens recognized the hazards of low-level radiation. Creager reveals that growing consciousness of the danger of radioactivity did not reduce the demand for radioisotopes at hospitals and laboratories, but it did change their popular representation from a therapeutic agent to an environmental poison. She then demonstrates how, by the late twentieth century, public fear of radioactivity overshadowed any appreciation of the positive consequences of the AEC’s provision of radioisotopes for research and medicine.

Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences

Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309176697
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Radioactive isotopes and enriched stable isotopes are used widely in medicine, agriculture, industry, and science, where their application allows us to perform many tasks more accurately, more simply, less expensively, and more quickly than would otherwise be possible. Indeed, in many casesâ€"for example, biological tracersâ€"there is no alternative. In a stellar example of "technology transfer" that began before the term was popular, the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors has supported the development and application of isotopes and their transfer to the private sector. The DOE is now at an important crossroads: Isotope production has suffered as support for DOE's laboratories has declined. In response to a DOE request, this book is an intensive examination of isotope production and availability, including the education and training of those who will be needed to sustain the flow of radioactive and stable materials from their sources to the laboratories and medical care facilities in which they are used. Chapters include an examination of enriched stable isotopes; reactor and accelerator-produced radionuclides; partnerships among industries, national laboratories, and universities; and national isotope policy.

Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation

Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309134153
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Nearly 20 million nuclear medicine procedures are carried out each year in the United States alone to diagnose and treat cancers, cardiovascular disease, and certain neurological disorders. Many of the advancements in nuclear medicine have been the result of research investments made during the past 50 years where these procedures are now a routine part of clinical care. Although nuclear medicine plays an important role in biomedical research and disease management, its promise is only beginning to be realized. Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation highlights the exciting emerging opportunities in nuclear medicine, which include assessing the efficacy of new drugs in development, individualizing treatment to the patient, and understanding the biology of human diseases. Health care and pharmaceutical professionals will be most interested in this book's examination of the challenges the field faces and its recommendations for ways to reduce these impediments.

The Supply of Medical Isotopes

The Supply of Medical Isotopes PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789264625099
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
This report explores the main reasons behind the unreliable supply of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) in health-care systems and policy options to address the issue. Tc-99m is used in 85% of nuclear medicine diagnostic scans performed worldwide – around 30 million patient examinations every year. These scans allow diagnoses of diseases in many parts of the human body, including the skeleton, heart and circulatory system, and the brain. Medical isotopes are subject to radioactive decay and have to be delivered just-in-time through a complex supply chain. However, ageing production facilities and a lack of investment have made the supply of Tc-99m unreliable. This report analyses the use and substitutability of Tc-99m in health care, health-care provider payment mechanisms for scans, and the structure of the supply chain. It concludes that the main reasons for unreliable supply are that production is not economically viable and that the structure of the supply chain prevents producers from charging prices that reflect the full costs of production and supply.

A History of Radionuclide Studies in the UK

A History of Radionuclide Studies in the UK PDF Author: Ralph McCready
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319286235
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The British Nuclear Medicine Society celebrates its 50th Anniversary with this booklet, which reflects the research of many of the pioneers in the use of radionuclides for the diagnosis and therapy of human disease. Since 1949 there have been remarkable advances in radionuclide techniques and imaging equipment: from the first devices “home-made” in the many physics departments throughout the UK, to the sophisticated multimodality imagers now in everyday use in Nuclear Medicine. The BNMS has been instrumental in promoting the use of radionuclide techniques in the investigation of pathology by supporting and providing education, research and guidelines on the optimum use of radiation to help patients. The future of Nuclear Medicine is bright, thanks to improved imaging resolution, new radiopharmaceuticals, and new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and procedures.

Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research Xxiii

Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research Xxiii PDF Author: Helmar Bergmann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9783764359676
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 880

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Book Description


Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research XXIII

Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research XXIII PDF Author: H. Sinzinger
Publisher: Birkhäuser
ISBN: 3034887825
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 551

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Book Description
Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research XXIII presents an update in the latest clinical research in nuclear medicine. It provides in-depth information on all areas of nuclear medicine. The chapters of this volume have been grouped into the following sections: Neurology / Psychiatry, Therapy, Radiopharmacology, Endocrinology / Thyroid, Oncology / Haematology, Clinical PET, Cardiology, Varia, Physics / Radiation Protection, World Wide Web / WWW demo. Special attention is paid to the virtual media for teaching, training, communication, quality control etc. Primarily intended for specialists in the nuclear medicine, this volume will also be of considerable interest to clinicians using diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures, including cardiologists, haematologists, neurologists, nephrologists, oncologists, pharmacologists, and psychiatrists.

Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research

Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research PDF Author: H. Bergmann
Publisher: Birkhäuser
ISBN: 3034873409
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
With the present Badgastein Symposium "Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research" we have now had 40 years of an uninterrupted series of Badgastein meetings on nuclear medicine, since the first one took place in January 1954. We believe that this anni versary is worth mentioning. The 21 st symposium proved again to offer a representative cross section through the current topics of scientific interest of nuclear medicine. The general theme of research in nuclear medicine has shifted from the spectacular new developments which were so often reported in the first symposia to a less spectacular, albeit equally important period, which may best be characterized by validation and standardization. While this may not be as exciting as we would like it to be, it is nevertheless vital for nuclear medicine to maintain and improve its standing amongst the other specialties of medicine which draw upon the services that nuclear medicine offers.

Molybdenum-99 for Medical Imaging

Molybdenum-99 for Medical Imaging PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309445310
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The decay product of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), technetium-99m (Tc-99m), and associated medical isotopes iodine-131 (I-131) and xenon-133 (Xe-133) are used worldwide for medical diagnostic imaging or therapy. The United States consumes about half of the world's supply of Mo-99, but there has been no domestic (i.e., U.S.-based) production of this isotope since the late 1980s. The United States imports Mo-99 for domestic use from Australia, Canada, Europe, and South Africa. Mo-99 and Tc-99m cannot be stockpiled for use because of their short half-lives. Consequently, they must be routinely produced and delivered to medical imaging centers. Almost all Mo-99 for medical use is produced by irradiating highly enriched uranium (HEU) targets in research reactors, several of which are over 50 years old and are approaching the end of their operating lives. Unanticipated and extended shutdowns of some of these old reactors have resulted in severe Mo-99 supply shortages in the United States and other countries. Some of these shortages have disrupted the delivery of medical care. Molybdenum-99 for Medical Imaging examines the production and utilization of Mo-99 and associated medical isotopes, and provides recommendations for medical use.

Medical Isotope Production Without Highly Enriched Uranium

Medical Isotope Production Without Highly Enriched Uranium PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309130395
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
This book is the product of a congressionally mandated study to examine the feasibility of eliminating the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU2) in reactor fuel, reactor targets, and medical isotope production facilities. The book focuses primarily on the use of HEU for the production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), whose decay product, technetium-99m3 (Tc-99m), is used in the majority of medical diagnostic imaging procedures in the United States, and secondarily on the use of HEU for research and test reactor fuel. The supply of Mo-99 in the U.S. is likely to be unreliable until newer production sources come online. The reliability of the current supply system is an important medical isotope concern; this book concludes that achieving a cost difference of less than 10 percent in facilities that will need to convert from HEU- to LEU-based Mo-99 production is much less important than is reliability of supply.