Determination of Residual Activity of 99 Metastable Technetium (99mTc) in Urine Samples of Patients at University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Mudenda, Winter (2014) Determination of Residual Activity of 99 Metastable Technetium (99mTc) in Urine Samples of Patients at University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia. Masters thesis, University of Zambia.

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Abstract

Ionizing radiation is the largest contributor to human exposure from manmade sources of radiation. Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are routinely carried out in Zambia and patients are allowed home without measurement of the remaining amount of tracer in the body. Pharmacokinetic profiles of tracers in the body differ between individuals and in between 99metastable Technetium (99mTc) containing tracers. The pharmacokinetics of radioactive isotopes is dependent on the rate of decay which is characteristic to the isotope. Decay of radioactive elements in a biological system occurs by both biological and physical means and each of these have a distinct biological (Tb) and physical half-life (Tp). The effective half-life (Te) is a combination of both the biological and physical half-lives. The effective half life is used to determine whether to allow home or to quarantine the patient after scanning with 99mTc containing tracers. The aim of the study was to determine the residual activity of 99mTc in urine samples of patients at the University Teaching Hospital Department of Nuclear Medicine. The study also sought to establish whether the biological and effective half-life of 99mTc was affected when different pharmaceuticals were added to 99mTc for various scanning procedures.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	JHI Africa
Date Deposited:	23 Nov 2017 13:33
Last Modified:	23 Nov 2017 13:33
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/2751

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