Advantages & Disadvantages of Radioisotopic Labelling
There are a multitude of advantages acquired through the use of radioisotopes in regard to radio isotopic labelling. There are no known long-term adverse effects from low-dose exposure of radioisotopes and the potential health risks from radiation exposure are low when compared with the potential benefits. The following lists include advantages and disadvantages of radioistopes in radioisotopic labelling/tracing and their use in medical diagnostic imaging. On the whole, radioisotopes are too valuable for medical imaging due to the plethora of benefits and advantageous uses in medicine. The list of disadvantages may seem alarming, but we must take into account that using such products invests a large amount of money and their use is not a waste of money. Most of the potential health risks are extremely rare and most often do not occur, knowing that physicians always take care of their patients, radioisotopes advantages will most certainly always outweigh the disadvantages present.
Advantages
The advantages include the following:
The disadvantages include the following;
Advantages
The advantages include the following:
- Radioisotopes travel fast through the body (some as fast as the speed of light!)
- Isotopes are advantageous because they have a high degree of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of their detection; and the simplicity and availability of measuring devices pairs along with their use
- It is easy to measure the chemical and the compounds it degrades into and isolate them for identification because they are radioactive (equipment that detects radioactivity can isolate only the compounds that come from the labelled compound)
- Useful in Diagnoses- allowing physicians to view internal organs and spot potential health problems faster (Are a fast way of finding a serious problem in the body)
- Isotopes can be given orally, through injection or inhalation (they are relatively non-invasive!)
- Radioisotopes commonly used in diagnostic imaging have short half-lives- meaning they are quickly eliminated from body (reduces any risk of harm to a patient’s body).
The disadvantages include the following;
- Only a small number of elements have suitable stable isotopes for medical diagnostics, the narrowing down of such isotopes means limited availability to certain areas in different countries (others will have to rely on exports, or not even be able to use them at all)
- Expose to radioisotopes can carry some potential health risks-(procedure done incorrectly, experimental error, contamination, stored unsafely etc…), however these risks can be mitigated by proper handling and following of these strict guidelines.
- Radioisotopes require nuclear reactors for production making them somewhat expensive (dependent on country etc…). Building reactors requires hefty costs due to maintenance, setup, location, and environmental concern.
- Radioactive waste requires its own set of safety rules for disposal. The same goes for radioisotope disposal since they can remain radioactive after use. These compounds have a strict set of rules.
- Some potential side effects that might occur include during tests include: bleeding, soreness or swelling at the injection site, OR allergic reactions (extremely rare)
- Radiolabeled compound must be synthesized from radioactive reagents, and radiolabeled reagents are expensive.
- Detection instruments are expensive (especially newer models-the PET scan, not all hospitals can pay the price of radio isotopic treatment detection methods
- Radioisotopes can be inevitably hard to store since they continuously omit radiation (depends on the type of radioisotope present or used, those with short-half lives are usually not a problem!)
- Many viable isotopes that are used are very short lived, so use has to be close to the source of production, thus storage & transportation can be problematic. (Money well spent can also be wasted if not used, delaying of scans can cost money and time!)
- If strict safety standards are not in place it is possible for reactions to become unstable and become uncontrollable (resulting in the release of nuclear material from the reactor core or, in the worst case, a meltdown). These events can have lasting impacts on the surrounding population and environment. (If this were to happen in a hospital, heavy precautions and cleanup would be required, again taking up time and money!).