Following are the uses of radioactive elements in health care:
(a) Technetium-99 is used to image the skeleton and heart muscle in particular, but also for brain, thyroid, lungs etc.
(b) Chromium-51 is used to label red blood cells and quantify gastro- intestinal protein loss.
(c) Cobalt-60 is used for external beam radiotherapy.
(c) Copper-64 is used to study genetic diseases affecting copper metabolism.
(d) Erbium-169 is used for relieving arthritis pain in synovial joints.
(e) Iodine-125 is widely used in radioimmuno- assays to show the presence of hormones in tiny quantities.
(f) Iodine-131 is widely used in treating thyroid cancer and in imaging the thyroid.
(g) Iron-59 is used in studies of iron metabolism in the spleen.
