What are the main uses for radioisotopes?
The main uses for radioisotopes are in medicine, industry and research. On average, every Australian can expect at some stage in their life to have a nuclear medicine procedure that uses a radioisotope for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radiation to provide information about a person’s body and the functioning of specific organs. In most cases, the information is used by physicians to make an accurate diagnosis of the patient’s illness via nuclear imaging. In certain cases radiation can be used to treat diseased organs or tumours. Radioisotopes are also commonly used for analysis, quality control and safety checking in a wide range of industries from mining and manufacturing to food production and packaging. Radioisotopes are also used as tracers in many research areas. Naturally occurring radioisotopes are used particularly in dating, such as estimating the age of water from underground bores from the ratio of naturally occurring radioisotop
