Final answer:
Jamie, a nuclear medicine technologist, may administer radioisotopes for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Examples of these radioisotopes include technetium-99, thallium-201, and iodine-131, among others. Nuclear radiation's ability to penetrate tissues and the specificity of radiopharmaceuticals make them useful in medical imaging and tests.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jamie is a nuclear medicine technologist. In virtually any state, he may, for diagnostic or therapeutic reasons, apply or administer radioisotopes. These radiopharmaceuticals are used extensively in medical practice, with over 10 million nuclear medicine procedures and more than 100 million nuclear medicine tests performed annually in the United States.
For diagnostic applications, radioisotopes can image various organs by substituting a stable element with a radioactive one. For example, iodine is often used for thyroid imaging due to its uptake by the organ, especially by the most active thyroid cells, including cancerous ones. Other common radioisotopes include technetium-99, which is used to detect damaged tissues in the heart, liver, and lungs; thallium-201, for heart tissue studies; and sodium-24, which can help locate blood flow obstructions.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET scans) and isotopic studies are other diagnostic medical applications of nuclear medicine. In PET scans, a radioactive isotope is typically injected, swallowed, or inhaled, and then a scanner detects gamma ray emissions from the body to produce images of organ structure and function. The advantages of using nuclear radiation in medical imaging include the ability of gamma radiation to easily penetrate tissues and the specificity with which radiopharmaceuticals can be designed to target specific body systems for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.