Catalogue
Interactive Lab: Medical Tracer
Mr Vilchez Science
Medical Tracer Simulator
Technetium-99m Tracer Scan
Administer the radiotracer. Notice how the highly-penetrating Gamma rays escape the body to be mapped by the camera, whilst the short half-life rapidly purges the radiation.
Time Elapsed
0 HRS
Internal Activity
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Why Gamma?
Gamma radiation is highly penetrating. It easily phases right through human tissue and out into the scanner. Alpha or Beta would be safely stopped inside the body, making them useless for outside scanning and highly dangerous to internal organs.
Why a 6 Hour Half-life?
It remains highly active long enough (a few hours) for the mechanics of the hospital to conduct a full MRI/Gamma scan, but rapidly decays away overnight so the patient does not remain a walking radioactive hazard for weeks.