High specific activity radioisotopes

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Radioactive atoms or "radioisotopes" are widely used in both the physical and medical sciences. Radioisotopes are constantly undergoing nuclear decay, which results in the emission of radiation in the form of gamma or X-rays. These can be detected using highly sensitive instruments that can quantify as little as a billionth of a milligram (10 E-12 g) of the radioisotope, rendering radioactive tracers a highly sensitive means of monitoring physical, biological or chemical processes. Radioisotopes are used in environmental sciences to follow the uptake and distribution of a particular chemical element in a biological or ecological system over time. Medical applications include diagnostic imaging, where a radioisotope is used to monitor cardiac blood flow, for example, and radiotherapy, where a larger quantity of certain radioisotopes is used to destroy cancer cells that cannot be removed surgically.