Studies on the adsorption of 125I on metallic pellets for their potential application in bone densitometry for the diagnosis of osteoporosis

125I -bone densitometry sources find extensive application in the diagnosis of osteoporosis by using single photon absorption (SPA) technique. Silver pellets of size ∼2.5 mm(φ) x 0.6 mm (I) were developed as base matrix for adsorption of 125I. Determination of specific surface area and pore size analysis of plain silver and palladium coated silver pellets was carried out. Experimental conditions for quantitative adsorption of 125I were optimized and the sources containing up to ∼1.48 GBq of 125I were prepared. The leachability of sources was found to be < 0.01 %. Such 125I -bone densitometry sources developed at our end have potential of application in the diagnosis of osteoporosis after encapsulation of sources within titanium capsules. (author)