Technetium-99m is an important isotope used in medical imaging (the m stands for metastable). Each day healthcare professionals around the world use Technetium-99m in thousands of medical scans. This material has a very short half-life of about 6 hours and decays by gamma decay to Technetium-99. In this exercise, you will look at why half-life is an important concern and how it affects your health.
Technetium-99m has a half-life of 6 hours. Use this to answer the following questions:
a. What percentage of Technituum-99m would remain in your body 24 hours after injection with this radioisotope? Assume that the initial percentage is 100%.
b. In terms of radiation exposure, why is this short half-life beneficial?
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a. The half-life of Technetium-99m is 6 hours.
After 24 hours, which is four half-lives (6 hours multiplied by 4), only 6.25% (1/2^4) of the initial amount of Technetium-99m would remain in your body. Therefore, the percentage of Technetium-99m that would remain in your body 24 hours after injection is 6.25%.
b. The short half-life of Technetium-99m is beneficial in terms of radiation exposure because it means that the radioisotope decays relatively quickly. As a result, the radiation exposure to the patient's body is reduced over time. If the half-life were longer, the radioisotope would remain in the body for a longer period, resulting in a higher radiation dose. The short half-life allows for a more controlled and safer use of Technetium-99m in medical imaging.
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