Physics is used to explain natural events and is a strong component of scientific disciplines. Nuclear medicine applies physical principles and theories to generate medical technology, using nuclear physics to manipulate atomic particles and create reactions. Diagnostic imaging and radiopharmaceuticals are examples of physics in nuclear medicine.
In broader terms, physics studies focus on physical objects, their compositional matter, and their interactions and movement through space and time. Physics is used as a means to explain events and situations that occur in the natural world, and physics theories are therefore a strong component of several scientific disciplines, including astronomy, biology and nuclear studies. The use of physics in nuclear medicine involves applying physical principles and theories such as radioactive decay and fusion or fission to generate medical technology. The study of matter at the most basic levels of particle cells is the cornerstone of physics in nuclear medicine. The principles of nuclear physics are most often used in medical settings in imaging testing and drug creation.
Nuclear medicine is a form of applied physics. Applications of physics in nuclear medicine make use of theories and subdisciplines of physics to design and create work objects or new methods of performing tasks. They use rigorously tested scientific methods and try to apply stable and immutable scientific laws. Quantum mechanics, for example, is a subfield of physics that addresses how particles such as those generated in radioactive decay also have wave-like properties and how these particles interact both with each other and with energetic forces.
Nuclear physics is the foundation of nuclear technology, including nuclear medicine. This broad field is focused on the nuclei found in atoms, especially their structure and interactions. Scientists can manipulate the insides of these cells and create powerful reactions, usually producing radiation, a basic physical principle of energy moving through space. Nuclear research activities that can generate energy include acceleration, heating, transfer, decay, splitting and fusion. The latter activities are particularly important in nuclear medicine.
Fission and fusion are nuclear reactions that can be used to generate energy for physics in nuclear medicine. The former event involves the splitting of atomic particles, while the latter involves the combining of atomic material. Physicists induce these reactions in devices called nuclear reactors. In the medical field, research reactors are often used for the analysis, testing and production of radioisotopes, the nuclear material of atoms.
A major component of nuclear physics in medicine involves diagnostic imaging. These processes, also called nuclide imaging, happen when your doctor injects nuclide particles into your body. As these particles decay, they generate radioactive forms of energy called gamma rays. Specific equipment such as gamma cameras then detect differences in radioactivity. The variations often give insight into the functional capabilities of different regions and parts of the body.
In radioactive decay such as that found in imaging practices, particle activities are known in physics as weak interactions because they do not create a strong, constraining effect. Other basic interaction types in physics include electromagnetism and gravity. Doctors use the interactions of electrically charged particles in electromagnetism to create magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines.
Another application of physics in nuclear medicine occurs when nuclide materials are used for medical treatments. For example, when radionuclide material is combined with certain types of drugs, the result of this interaction is radiopharmaceuticals. These treatments are most often used for specific types of conditions, such as cancer. Directed energy sources of radiation can also be used in cancer radiation therapy treatments, in which beams of radiation are directed at target areas of the body in the hope that they will destroy harmful substances.
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