Fluorine-18 is a radioactive isotope of fluorine commonly used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans in nuclear medicine due to its favorable half-life and positron emission properties. Its ability to form compounds like fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) allows medical professionals to visualize active metabolic processes in the body for diagnostic purposes.

Fluorine-18

Radioactive isotopes, or radioisotopes, are variants of chemical elements that have unstable nuclei and emit radiation as they decay to more stable forms. They are widely used in medicine for diagnostics and treatment, in industry for material inspection, and in scientific research for tracing and dating purposes.

Radioactive Isotope

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for the visualization and measurement of metabolic processes in the body by detecting gamma rays emitted from a radioactive tracer injected into the patient. It is widely used in oncology, neurology, and cardiology to assess tissue function and detect diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.

Positron Emission Tomography

PET Scans

Nuclear medicine is a medical specialty that uses small amounts of radioactive materials, called radiopharmaceuticals, to diagnose, treat, and monitor diseases. It provides unique information about the structure and function of organs and tissues, offering insights that often cannot be obtained using other imaging procedures.

Nuclear Medicine

Half-life is the time required for a quantity to reduce to half its initial value, commonly used to describe the decay of radioactive substances. It is a constant property for a given substance, indicating the rate of decay and helping to predict how long it will take for a substance to diminish to a certain level.

Half-life

Positron emission properties

Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is a radiopharmaceutical used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans to assess metabolic activity in tissues, particularly useful in oncology for detecting cancer. It is a glucose analog, where a hydroxyl group is replaced by a radioactive fluorine-18 atom, allowing for the visualization of glucose metabolism in the body.

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