Past exam of the short options paper shared by Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford / 2019 / S10 / 1 / b

A diagnostic example is technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate, which accumulates at sites of bone turnover for bone scintigraphy. A therapeutic example is sodium iodide iodine-131, taken up by thyroid tissue and used for selected thyroid disease including differentiated thyroid cancer.

For diagnosis, an escaping gamma ray or a Positron followed by annihilation photons allows external detection, with an appropriate short half-life and limited deposited energy. For molecular radiotherapy, short-range charged emissions such as beta particles, alpha particles or Auger electrons deposit substantial local energy in the targeted tissue. Iodine-131 emits therapeutic beta particles as well as imageable gamma rays, so these categories are functional rather than mutually exclusive isotope classes.