99mTc

99mTc is a radioisotope of technetium which is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures annually, making it the most commonly used medical radioisotope.

History

The use of 99mTc in nuclear medicine was pioneered by Henry N. Wagner who began studies on lung perfusion in 1961.

Production

99mTc is usually formed from the beta decay of molybdenum-99, which has a half-life of 66 hours, by a 99Mo/99mTc generator. The "m" in 99mTc indicates that this is a metastable nuclear isomer.

Uses

99mTc is used in radiopharmaceuticals such as exametazime, sestamibi, tetrofosmin for myocardial perfusion imaging, sulesomab in white blood cell imaging, and medronic acid for bone imaging. Other uses include pentetate for imaging kidney function and disease, and MAG3 for renal imaging.

Safety

The short half-life of the isotope allows for scanning procedures which collect data rapidly, but keep total patient radiation exposure low.

See also

• Technetium-99
• Nuclear medicine
• Radioisotope

99mTc Resources
Latest articles Most recent articles Ongoing trials	Wikipedia