Radiopharmacy

Question 1

What is radiopharmacy?

Answer 1

Radiopharmacy is the study of the science and art of preparing, compounding, quality control and dispensing of radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes for use in nuclear medicine for diagnosis, therapy and also for use in research and industries.

Question 2

What is a radiopharmaceutical?

Answer 2

Radiopharmaceutical (or radioactive drug) is any substance defined as a drug that exhibits spontaneous transformation of unstable nuclei with the emission of nuclear particles or photons and includes any nonradioactive reagent kit or nuclide generator that is intended to be used in the preparation of any such substance.

Question 3

Classes of radiopharmaceuticals

Answer 3

Diagnostic (rad Dx)
Therapeutic (rad Rx)
Research radiopharmaceuticals.

Question 4

What is a radioisotope?

Answer 4

Radioisotope (or radionuclide) is an isotope which is not in a stable energy state and can gain stability by the emission of radiation which can be particulate (α or β emission) or electromagnetic (γ radiation).

Question 5

Who are radiopharmacists?

Answer 5

Radiopharmacists are responsible for the filling and dispensing of prescriptions for radioactive tracers and for the clinical aspects of radiopharmacy.

Question 6

Required training for radiopharmacists

Answer 6

(1) Radioactive tracer techniques
(2) Safe handling of radioactive materials
(3) Preparation and quality control of drugs prepared for administration to humans.

Question 7

What is a nuclide?

Answer 7

A unique atom characterized by its atomic number and its atomic mass number and having stability such that its lifetime is measurable.

Question 8

All atoms sharing the same atomic number are not the same element. True or false?

Answer 8

False

Question 9

What is radioactivity?

Answer 9

The property of certain nuclides whereby they emit radiation due to the spontaneous
transformation of their nuclei into those of other nuclides as a result of disintegration due to instability.

Question 10

What is radioactive decay?

Answer 10

Radioactive decay is the property of unstable nuclides during which they undergo a spontaneous transformation within the nucleus. This change results in the emission of energetic particles or electromagnetic energy from the atoms and the production of an altered nucleus.

Question 11

The term radioactivity was actually coined by…

Answer 11

…Marie Curie

Question 12

Who discovered polonium and radium as radioactive elements?

Answer 12

Marie and Pierre Curie

Question 13

Who discovered radioactive emissions and when?

Answer 13

Antoine Henri Becquerel in 1896

Question 14

What was Becquerel working with when he discovered radioactive emissions?

Answer 14

Naturally fluorescent minerals called pitchblende

Question 15

Who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903?

Answer 15

Becquerel - for discovery

Pierre and Marie - for contribution

Question 16

What influences the stability of an atom?

Answer 16

The relative numbers of protons and neutrons present.

Question 17

An atom is said to be radioactive if…

Answer 17

…it contains unstable nuclei and is able to naturally release energy in the process of shedding high speed charged particles, in an attempt to reach a stable state.

Question 18

When does transmutation of a radioactive substance stop?

Answer 18

When stability is achieved. A daughter nuclide will continue to be formed spontaneously until this happens

Question 19

What are radioisotopes?

Answer 19

They are unstable isotopes of an element whose nuclei emit radiation spontaneously to achieve a more stable nuclear configuration

Question 20

Radioactive isotopes are identified by…

Answer 20

…their mass numbers, used as a superscript in front of the symbol of the isotope or it is written after the symbol or name of the isotope, eg, iodine-123

Question 21

What is natural radioactivity?

Answer 21

When radioactivity occurs spontaneously without external forces

Question 22

How many naturally occurring radioactive series are there?

Answer 22

There are three naturally occurring radioactive series among the elements in the periodic table.

Question 23

What are the natural radioactive series?

Answer 23

The uranium series
The actinium series
The thorium series

NOTE: Each named after the element at which the series start (except the actinium series which starts with a different uranium isotope).

Question 24

When does the radioactive decay of the natural radioactive series stop?

Answer 24

Each one ends when it reaches a different stable isotope of lead.

Question 25

What is a radioactive series?

Answer 25

A series of elements that are formed by disintegration of a long-lived parent (as actinium, thorium, or uranium) through the successive loss of alpha or beta particles, sometimes by alternative routes and that are all radioactive, except the end products which are stable isotopes of lead or bismuth.

Question 26

All members of a radioactive series are unstable except…

Answer 26

…the end products which are stable isotopes of lead or bismuth.

Question 27

What is artificial radioactivity?

Answer 27

It is a method of inducing a nuclear reaction in a stable isotope by bombarding it with particles such as neutrons.

Question 28

What are transuranium elements?

Answer 28

Since about 1940, a set of new elements with atomic numbers over 92 (the atomic number of the heaviest naturally occurring element, Uranium) have been artificially made.

Question 29

Types of radiation

Answer 29

1. Alpha particle emission (α-particle)
2. Beta-particle emission (β-particle)
3. Gamma-ray emission (γ)
4. Positron emission
5. Proton and neutron emission
6. Electron capture
7. X-rays

Question 30

Artificial transmutation is usually

carried out in…

Answer 30

…either a particle accelerator such as a cyclotron or in a nuclear reactor.

Question 31

The rate of decay depends on the radioactive material and varies widely from material to
material. True or false?

Answer 31

True

Question 32

Some physical or chemical processes can alter or affect the rate at which the disintegration of
atoms proceeds

Answer 32

False

Question 33

The activity (A) of a radionuclide is…

Answer 33

…the rate at which it is decaying, i.e. the rate at which the nuclei in a sample are decomposing. It is recorded as the number of nuclei disintegrating per seconds.

Question 34

S.I. unit of activity

Answer 34

Becquerel (Bq)

Question 35

The activity of a nucleus does not depend on…

Answer 35

• the type of decay
• the energy of the decay products
• the biological effects of the radiation.

Question 36

The activity of a nuclei only depends only on…

Answer 36

…the number of decays per second

Question 37

What is the value of 1 Curie (Ci) in Becquerel?

Answer 37

3.7 x 10^10 becquerel

The activity of 1 gram of radium

Question 38

What is the specific activity of a nuclide?

Answer 38

The specific activity of a radioactive material is the activity per unit mass or volume of that sample.

Question 39

The activity of a radionuclide is inversely proportional to the mass of the isotope. True or false?

Answer 39

False

Question 40

Simple radioactive decay

Answer 40

Here, radionuclides produce only one daughter isotope with radiation, even though it may exist in several different energy states, exhibiting first order kinetics.

Question 41

What is the decay constant?

Answer 41

It represents the probability of a nucleus disintegrating in a given time t.

Question 42

What is the half-life of radionuclide?

Answer 42

Half-life (t1/2) of a radionuclide is the time taken for half the nuclei in a sample to disintegrate.