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<h2>Nuclear Medicine</h2> <p>Nuclear medicines are radioactive isotopes that are used to treat patients. You can read more about isotopes, what they are and how they behave in "<a href="basics0.html" target="_top">The Basics</a>" section of this web site.</p> <p>Radioactive isotopes are used in medicine in three distinct ways.</p> <p>1. Radioactive isotopes can be injected into a patient, and their emitted energy can then be captured on film. The resulting image is an important diagnostic tool.</p> <p>2. Gamma rays emitted from a radioactive source can be directed onto a tumour, destroying the cancerous cells.</p> <p>3. Radioactive isotopes can be manufactured into drugs. Once injected into a patient, the drug will accumulate in a certain part of the body, such as a tumour. As the isotopes decay and release energy, that energy destroys the tumour.</p> <p>NRU is a versatile facility and produces a range of different medical isotopes used to treat and diagnose more than 20,000,000 people around the world each year.</p>
