Lec-2: August, 2025

Physics for Oncologist

Modes of radioactive decay
 Alpha decay

• Alphas are large particles ejected by

the heavier nuclides
A− 4 +2
• Alpha decay is probable for nuclides
with Z > 82 Z
A
X→ Y + He
Z −2
4
2
• Alpha contains two protons and two
+2
neutrons (no electrons) and is, in
effect, a helium nucleus
210
84 Po→ Pb+ He
206
82
4
2
• Thus, the atomic number decreases by
two and the mass number decreases
by four
Beta decay
• Betas are physically the same as electrons, but may be positively or
negatively charged
• Negative beta is a beta minus or negatron
• Positive beta is a beta plus or positron
• Betas are ejected from the nucleus, not from the electron orbitals
• In all beta decays the atomic number changes by one while the atomic
mass is unchanged
 Beta- decay

• Occurs in neutron-rich nuclides

1
0 n→ p + e + 
1
1
0
−1
• The nucleus converts a neutron into a
proton and a beta minus (which is
ejected from the nucleus with an anti-
neutrino)
A
Z X → Y +  +
A
Z +1
0
−1
• Mass and charge are conserved
• The daughter element is different from

Sr → Y +  + 
the parent element 90 90 0
38 39 −1
 Beta+ decay

• Occurs in proton-rich nuclides

• The nucleus converts a proton into a
1
1 p→ n+ e + 
1
0
0
+1
neutron and a beta plus (which is ejected
from the nucleus with a neutrino)
A
Z X → Y +  +
A
Z −1
0
+1
• Positron has the same mass as electron
but positive charge.
 Nuclear Energy Levels

➢ In the same way that electrons can exist in

excited states, nuclei can also exist in excited
states.
➢ There is a state of lowest energy (the ground
state) and discrete possible excited states for a
nucleus.
➢ Where the discrete energy states for the
electrons of an atom are measured in eV or keV,
the energy levels of the nucleus are considerably
greater and typically measured in MeV.
➢ A nucleus that is in the excited state will not
remain at that energy level for an indefinite
period. Like the electrons in an excited atom,
the nucleons in an excited nucleus will transition
towards their lowest energy configuration and
in doing so emit a discrete bundle of
electromagnetic radiation called a gamma ray
(γ-ray).
 Gamma (γ) radiation

• Daughter nuclei from radioactive decays are often ‘born’ with excess energy
• Usually the excited nucleus reaches ground state via nuclear de-excitation
• Most frequently the excess energy is relieved via the emission of one or more γ
rays
• The excited nucleus and the final ground state nucleus have the same Z and A
• During de-excitation no nuclear transformation occurs, so no ‘new’ element is
formed
 Gamma radiation

0
−1 

Gamma Rays

Parent Daughter
Co-60 Ni-60

Anti-neutrino
 Artificially induced radioactivity
Radioactivation is the process of making a stable substance radioactive by bombarding it with particles.

18F is a radioisotope (half life 110 min) used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

The 60Co isotope is unstable (half life of 5.272 years) and disintegrates into 60Ni via the
emission of β particle and γ radiation
Penetration ability
 Use of radioactive isotopes in medicine
➢ Diagnostic: thyroid uptake studies, renal function studies, lung
ventilation, perfusion, bone scanning, SPECT, PET imaging.

➢ Therapeutic: Treatment of cancer using radioisotopes, eg. Co-60, I-131

 Use of radioactive isotopes in medicine
1. Technetium-99m (Tc-99m)
Half-life: ~6 hours
Radiation: Gamma
Applications: Bone scans (detecting metastases or fractures), Cardiac perfusion imaging Hepatobiliary
imaging (liver/gallbladder function), Renal scans (kidney function and structure), Thyroid imaging.

2. Fluorine-18 (F-18)
Half-life: ~110 minutes
Radiation: Positron emitter (used in PET scans)Applications:F-18 FDG PET: Imaging of glucose metabolism
for cancer, brain disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's), and cardiac viability.

3. Iodine-123 (I-123)Half-life: ~13 hours

Radiation: Gamma
Applications: Thyroid scans and uptake studies, Imaging of neuroendocrine tumors.
 Use of radioactive isotopes in medicine
4. Iodine-131 (I-131) (used more in therapy but also in imaging)
Half-life: ~8 days, Radiation: Beta and Gamma
Applications: Thyroid cancer follow-up imagingWhole-body scans for metastatic thyroid disease.

5. Thallium-201 (Tl-201)
Half-life: ~73 hours, Radiation: Gamma
Applications: Myocardial perfusion imaging (cardiac stress tests), Viability studies of heart tissue

6. Gallium-67 (Ga-67)
Half-life: ~78 hours, Radiation: Gamma
Applications: Imaging of infections and inflammation, Tumor imaging (especially lymphomas).

7. Carbon-11 (C-11)
Half-life: ~20 minutes, Radiation: Positron emitter
Applications: PET imaging in neuroscience, Used in brain receptor and metabolic studies.

8. Rubidium-82 (Rb-82)
Half-life: ~75 seconds, Radiation: Positron emitter
Applications: PET myocardial perfusion imaging
Origin of X-rays
 Origin of X-rays
➢Discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895
➢1901, he won the first ever Nobel Prize in Physics.
➢Röntgen died on 10 February 1923 from carcinoma of the intestine.
 Origin of X-rays
X-rays are produced by the conversion of electron kinetic energy
into electromagnetic radiation.

30-140
 Interaction of electron with target

Interaction of electron with target atoms: (A) Ionization of target atoms, (B) Characteristic X-rays, (C)
Interaction with nuclear field, (D) Interaction with nucleus.
 Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung radiation is the radiation given off by an electron due to
its deceleration caused by an electric field of an atomic nucleus.

The x-rays produced at a given accelerating potential V vary in energy (polyenergetic), but
none has energy higher than the K.E. of the electrons.
 Characteristic X-rays
➢Incident electron knockout inner shell electron.
➢The vacancy is filled by an electron from higher energy level.
➢Energy difference between the two energy levels is emitted as X-ray.
➢Called characteristic because the energy depend on the characteristics of the target
atoms.
Feature Bremsstrahlung X-rays Characteristic X-rays
Produced when an incident electron is Produced when an inner-shell electron of the
Origin decelerated or deflected by the electric field target atom is ejected and an outer-shell
of a nucleus. electron fills the vacancy.
Sudden loss of kinetic energy due to nuclear Difference in binding energies between two
Cause
attraction. electron shells.
Continuous spectrum, ranging from near zero
Discrete (line) spectrum with specific
Energy Spectrum up to a maximum energy equal to the
energies characteristic of the target element.
incident electron’s kinetic energy.
Intensity increases with atomic number Z, Photon energies depend solely on the atomic
Dependence on Target Material but photon energies depend mainly on structure of the target element (binding
incident electron energy. energies).
Fixed, determined by

Energy of Photon Can take any value up to Emax(continuous). Ebinding, initial shell−Ebinding, final
shell
Sharp peaks (characteristic lines)
Appearance in Spectrum Smooth continuous background. superimposed on the continuous
background.
Only when the incident electron energy
Common in All X-ray tubes (main source of X-rays). exceeds the binding energy of an inner shell
electron.
 PROPERTIES OF X-RAYS

➢ X-rays are electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength (few nm).

➢ They travel in straight line with a velocity equal to light.

➢ X-rays are not influenced by electric and magnetic fields.

➢ X-rays penetrate through substances that are opaque to visible light.

➢ X-rays produce fluorescence in materials like calcium tungstate, and cesium iodide, etc.

➢ X-rays affect the photographic film and form latent image.

➢ X-rays produce ionization and excitation in the substances through which they pass.

➢ X-rays produce chemical changes in substances through which they pass.

➢ X-rays produce biological effects in living organisms. The cells can be either damaged or killed
due to X-ray exposure.
Interaction of X-rays with matter
 Basic interactions of radiation with matter

When electromagnetic radiation (X-rays, gamma rays) passes through matter, the incident photons
interact with the atoms of the material.

[Link] Scattering
[Link] electric interaction
[Link] Scattering
[Link] production
[Link] annihilation
 Coherent Scattering
In coherent scattering (also known as unmodified or elastic scattering) the incident radiation
undergoes a change in direction without a change in wavelength.

▪ This interaction consists of an electromagnetic wave passing

near the electron and setting it into oscillation.
▪ The oscillating electron reradiates the energy at the same
wavelength as the incident electromagnetic wave.
▪ Thus, no energy is changed into electronic motion and no energy
is absorbed in the medium.
▪ The only effect is the scattering of the photon at small angles.
▪ It occurs when the energy of the X-ray is small in relation to the
ionization energy of the atom. It therefore occurs with low
energy radiation (<10keV).
▪ The percentage of radiation that undergoes coherent scattering
is small compared to that of the other basic interactions; in
general, it is less than 5%.
 Photoelectric interaction
➢ An incoming x ray photon knocks out a tightly bound orbital electron (usually K shell). The energy of
the x ray photon must be equal to or greater than the binding energy of the orbital electron.
➢ The photon disappears, giving up all its energy to the electron.
➢ The electron knocked out of it’s orbit is called a photoelectron.
➢ The atom now has an empty orbital electron. The electrons from other orbitals will jump the shells
(i.e. L shell to K shell or M shell to K shell, etc.). This produces characteristic radiation within the
object being imaged. This cascade of electrons continues until the atom has filled all it’s empty
shells.
 Photoelectric interaction

ℎ𝑓 = 𝑊 + 𝐾. 𝐸.
hf = Energy of incident photon
W = electron binding energy,
also called work function= hfo
K.E. = kinetic energy of photoelectron

Ephotoelectron = Eincident photon – Ebinding energy

Example: Eincident photon = 24 keV

- Ebinding energy = 20 keV
Ephotoelectron = 04 keV
 Photoelectric Interaction:
Probability of occurrence

➢ The incident photon must have sufficient energy to overcome the binding energy of the electron.
➢ When the energy of the X-ray is just slightly greater than the binding energy, the probability that the
Photoelectric Effect will occur increases greatly.

𝟏
𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 ∝
(𝑬𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚)𝟑
 Photoelectric Interaction:
Probability of occurrence

➢ The tighter an electron is bound in its orbit, the more likely it is to be involved in a photoelectric reaction. The
Photoelectric Effect is more probable to occur in the intense electric field near the nucleus than in the outer
levels of the atoms, and it is more common in elements with high Z than in those with low Z.

𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 ∝ 𝑨𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝟑

Photoelectric reactions are most likely to occur with low energy photons and elements with high atomic numbers
provided the photons have sufficient energy to overcome the forces binding the electrons in their shells.

𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 ∝ 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚

➢ PEA is related to the atomic number of the attenuating medium (Z), the energy of the incident photon
(E) and the physical density of the attenuating medium (p) by: Z³ ρ / E³.
 Compton Scattering
➢ X-ray photon can collide with a loosely bound outer
electron much like a billiard ball collides with another
billiard ball. At the collision, the electron receives part of
the energy and the remainder is given to a Compton
(scattered) photon, which then travels in a direction
different from that of the original X-ray.

➢ The resultant incident photon gets scattered (changes

direction) and imparts energy to the electron (recoil
electron).

➢ The scattered photon will have a different wavelength and

thus a different energy.
 Compton Scattering

hfi = Er + hfs Er

ℎ
Compton wavelength of electron 2.43×10−12 m
𝑚0 𝑐
The wavelength shift λ′ − λ is at least zero (for θ = 0°) and at most twice the Compton wavelength of the
electron (for θ = 180°).
 Compton Scattering:
Probability of Occurrence

Interaction probability is proportional to

• the electron density
• physical density of the material
Inversely proportional to
• photon energy
Does not depend on atomic number
 Pair Production
➢ Photon interacts with the strong electric field around the nucleus
➢ it undergoes a change of state and is transformed into two particles (essentially electromagnetic
energy is converted into matter): one electron, one positron

▪ Equivalent energy of an electron or position is 0.51Mev.

▪ Minimum energy of the incident photon must be
1.02MeV for pair production.
▪ Corresponding maximum photon wavelength is 1.2pm.
Electromagnetic waves with such wavelength are
gamma rays.
▪ Additional photon energy becomes the kinetic energy of
the electron and positron.
 Pair Annihilation
➢ Annihilation is a process in which the electron and positron combine to form photons, it can also be considered as
the reverse process of pair production.
➢ In the annihilation process, a low energy electron combines with a low energy positron and forms two gamma
photons.
Relative predominance of the three main forms of
photon interaction with matter