Radiation Uses in Medical Physics

PET Scanning Involves Positron/Electron Annihilation:

PET is an abbreviation for positron emission tomography

PET scans show areas of damaged tissue in the heart by detecting areas of decreased blood flow. This can reveal coronary artery disease and damaged or dead heart muscle caused by heart attacks

PET scans can identitfy active cancer tumours by showing metabolic activity in tissue. Cancer cells have a much higher metabolism than healthy cells because they’re growing like mad

PET scans record blood flow and activity to the brain. This helps research and treat illnesses like  Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and depression etc.

And here is how it all works …

Inject the patient with a substance used by the body, e.g. glucose containing a positron emitting radioactive isotope with a short-life. This radioactive substance is called a radiotracer. Over…