Thyroid Imaging with Iodine
A thyroid uptake and scan use minimal amounts of radiotracers, which is a specialized computer and camera to give information concerning the thyroid’s shape, size, and position using imaging procedures. Iodine is preferred in thyroid imaging than other elements because it is rarely allergic. Additionally, during the imaging, Iodine destroys malignant cells that cause cancer because it has high radiation energy. Iodine is also preferable because it is affordable and available for medical use.
I-129 would not be a suitable replacement of I-131 or I-123 in thyroid imaging because it has lower radiation energy which makes it incompetent in destroying cancer cells (Brown, 2017). Additionally, I-129 emits beta rays which may have effects such as skin infections. Moreover, 1-129 beta particles have a half-life of millions of years, implying that it has a long-lasting impact on a patient. On the contrary, the half-lives of I-131 or I-123 are below sixty days, thus have a short-term effect on patients.
Iodine 123 is mostly prepared in a cyclotron through bombarding antimony-121 or iodine-127. I-131 is used in the treatment of thyroid cancer because unlike I-121, it is easily absorbed in thyroid glands, and its proton energy is high (Burrows et al., 2017). The isotope then collects in thyroid cells where its radiations terminate thyroid gland together with cancer cells. Furthermore, I-131 has more radiation dose compared to I-123, which enables it in ablating thyroid tissues that may not have been removed during surgery (Washington & Leaver, 2015).
Nuclear disasters may lead to the release of radioactive Iodine which may contaminate surfaces, water, or even settle on a person’s skin, causing external exposure (Lumniczky et al., 2018). Radioactive Iodine that has settled on external parts are removed using warm water and soap. However, internal exposure is treated using Potassium iodide (KI), a salt of non-reactive Iodine, that prevents the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive Iodine, thus protecting it from radiation injury. I would consider buying KI tablets in case I get exposed to radioactive Iodine since it would prevent it from accumulating in the thyroid gland, causing thyroid cancer.
References
Brown, T. L., Jr., H. E., Bursten, B. E., Murphy, C., Woodward, P., Langford, S., Sagatys, D., & George, A. (2017). Chemistry: The central science (14th ed.). Pearson Higher Education AU.
Burrows, A., Holman, J., Parsons, A., Pilling, G., & Price, G. (2017). Chemistry3: Introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Lumniczky, K., Candéias, S. M., Gaipl, U. S., & Frey, B. (2018). Radiation and the immune system: Current knowledge and future perspectives. Frontiers Media SA.
Washington, C. M., & Leaver, D. T. (2015). Principles and practice of radiation therapy – E-book (4th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.