Nuclear medicine and how it developed

Nuclear medicine is the science of using nuclear properties of matter in medicine. The elemental particles like protons and neutrons are in a particular arrangement or constellation to each other in the nucleus of an atom. If this constellation is disturbed by changing their numbers or position to each other in a cyclotron or a nuclear reactor, the nucleus of such an atom will try to come back to a stable constellation by giving up or emitting energy in form of radiations. This is the basic nuclear property of matter. This chapter also briefly discussed on the development of nuclear medicine since the discovery of radium by Madam Curie and utilization of radioisotopes for the study of plant physiology by George von Hevesy. (author)