These new technologies have also found practical applications ranging from integrated circuit production to weapons verification. Emerging applications of nuclear technology show great potential for addressing the future needs of the nation. Recent examples appear in the remainder of this brochure. In many cases, the practitioners are nuclear physicists who cooperate with physicians to develop and apply the techniques.
Many medical procedures require radioactive isotopes.
A radiopharmaceutical is a drug containing a radioactive isotope, an unstable nucleus. Radioimmunoassay is an in vitro procedure which combines radiochemicals and antibodies to detect trace quantities of hormones, vitamins, or drugs in a patient's blood. Physicians rely on radioimmunoassay to monitor the concentration of digitalis, a medication that slows the heart rate, in the blood of coronary patients. The patient ingests a radiopharmaceutical which emits a form of anti-matter, a positively charged electron called a positron. When the positron meets a normal electron, the two annihilate each other, emitting a pair of gamma rays in opposite directions.