BRAINCAKETechnetium-99m and Fluorine-18
Two tracers are named in the OCR specification.
Technetium-99m is the most widely used tracer. The m means metastable: the nucleus is in an excited state and drops to its ground state by emitting a gamma photon only.
99m43Tc → 9943Tc + γ
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Key terms in this lesson
- half-life
- The average time taken for the number of nuclei of a radioactive isotope in a sample, or its activity, to halve.
- positron
- The antiparticle of the electron: a particle with the same mass as the electron but a positive charge.
More in Medical Imaging
- Attenuation of X-rays
- Contrast Media
- CAT Scanning
- Medical Tracers
- The Gamma Camera
- Diagnosis with a Gamma Camera
- PET Scanning
- Ultrasound
All 20 lessons in Medical Imaging · All OCR A-level Physics topics