Final answer:
Practitioners must be properly authorized to handle radiopharmaceuticals, which are key in medical imaging and radiotherapy. Radioisotopes are widely used, and the professionals must follow stringent regulations to protect patient safety.
Step-by-step explanation:
Practitioners must be properly authorized to possess, use, and administer radiopharmaceuticals. These compounds are central to medical imaging and radiotherapy, vital tools in modern medicine for diagnosing and treating different diseases of the body. Radiopharmaceuticals are carefully designed to produce specific amounts of ionizing radiation, making them effective for both diagnostics and treatment.
The use of radioisotopes in medicine has significantly advanced the medical field, with millions of nuclear medicine procedures and tests performed annually in the United States alone. The process of attaching a radioactive substance to a chemical compound, known as tagging, allows for precise localization of diseases within the body through imaging techniques such as SPECT and PET scans.
Therapeutic ratio is an important consideration in radiotherapy, reflecting the balance between the efficacy of treatment (abnormal cells killed) and safety (normal cells spared). Professionals dealing with radiopharmaceuticals must adhere to strict regulations and possess appropriate credentials due to the potential risks associated with ionizing radiation.